scholarly journals A case study on the impact of severe convective storms on the water vapor mixing ratio in the lower mid-latitude stratosphere observed in 2019 over Europe

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Khordakova ◽  
Christian Rolf ◽  
Jens-Uwe Grooß ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
...  

Abstract. Extreme convective events in the troposphere not only have immediate impacts on the surface, they can also influence the dynamics and composition of the lower stratosphere (LS). One major impact is the moistening of the LS by overshooting convection. This effect plays a crucial role in climate feedback as small changes of water vapor in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) have a large impact on the radiation budget of the atmosphere. In this case study, we investigate water vapor injections into the LS by two consecutive convective events in the European mid-latitudes within the framework of the MOSES (Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems) measurement campaign during the early summer of 2019. Using balloon-borne instruments, rare measurements of the convective water vapor injection into the stratosphere were performed. The magnitude of the water vapor reached up to 12.1 ppmv with an estimated background value of 5 ppmv. Hence it is in the same order of magnitude as earlier reports of water vapor injection by convective overshooting above North America. However the overshooting took place in the extra-tropical stratosphere and has an impact on long-term water vapor mixing ratios in the stratosphere compared to the Monsoon-influenced region in North America. At the altitude of the measured injection, a sharp drop in a local ozone enhancement peak makes the observed composition of air very unique with high ozone up to 696 ppbv and high water vapor up to 12.1 ppmv. While ERA-Interim data does not show any signal of the convective overshoot, the measured values in the LS are underestimated by MLS satellite data and overestimated by ERA5 reanalysis data. Backward trajectories of the measured injected air masses reveal that the moistening of the LS took place several hours before the balloon launch. This is in good agreement with reanalyses and satellite data showing a strong change in the structure of isotherms, and a sudden and short-lived increase in potential vorticity at the altitude of the trajectory, as well as low cloud top brightness temperatures during the overshooting event.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Khordakova ◽  
Christian Rolf ◽  
Jens-Uwe Grooß ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
...  

<p><br>Extreme convective events in the troposphere have not only immediate destructive impact on the surface, but can also influence the dynamic and composition of the lower stratosphere (LS). One of the impacts is the moistening of the LS. This effect plays a crucial role in climate feedback as water vapor in the UTLS (Upper Troposphere/Lower Stratosphere) has a major impact on the radiation budget of the atmosphere. <br>In this case study we investigate water vapor injection into the LS by convective events in mid-latitudes. In the framework of the MOSES (Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems) measurement campaign during the early summer of 2019, balloon borne measurements were performed to capture the water vapor injected into the stratosphere by convective events. On two consecutive days the balloon profiles showed clear evidence of water vapor transported above the tropopause by convection. The magnitude of the water vapor enhancement is comparable to other studies which show measurements above North America. At the altitude of the measured injection a sharp cut-off in a local ozone enhancement peak verifies the tropospheric origin of the water vapor injection. Back trajectories of the measured air masses reveal that the moistening took place multiple hours before the balloon launch and correlate well with ERA5 data showing a strong change in the structure of isotherms and a sudden and short lived increase in potential vorticity at the altitude of the trajectory. A comparison with MLS data shows that this process can barely be recognized by satellite measurements due to the low vertical and horizontal resolution. It is hence desirable to increase the number of in-situ measurements focusing on the impacts of convective events on the lower stratosphere over Europe and to assess its impact on UTLS water vapor.</p>


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Venkat Ratnam ◽  
S. Ravindra Babu ◽  
S. S. Das ◽  
Ghouse Basha ◽  
B. V. Krishnamurthy ◽  
...  

Abstract. Tropical cyclones play an important role in modifying the tropopause structure and dynamics as well as stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE) process in the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) region. In the present study, the impact of cyclones that occurred over the North Indian Ocean during 2007–2013 on the STE process is quantified using satellite observations. Tropopause characteristics during cyclones are obtained from the Global Positioning System (GPS) Radio Occultation (RO) measurements and ozone and water vapor concentrations in UTLS region are obtained from Aura-Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) satellite observations. The effect of cyclones on the tropopause parameters is observed to be more prominent within 500 km from the centre of cyclone. In our earlier study we have observed decrease (increase) in the tropopause altitude (temperature) up to 0.6 km (3 K) and the convective outflow level increased up to 2 km. This change leads to a total increase in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL) thickness of 3 km within the 500 km from the centre of cyclone. Interestingly, an enhancement in the ozone mixing ratio in the upper troposphere is clearly noticed within 500 km from cyclone centre whereas the enhancement in the water vapor in the lower stratosphere is more significant on south-east side extending from 500–1000 km away from the cyclone centre. We estimated the cross-tropopause mass flux for different intensities of cyclones and found that the mean flux from stratosphere to troposphere for cyclonic stroms is 0.05 ± 0.29 × 10−3 kg m−2 and for very severe cyclonic stroms it is 0.5 ± 1.07 × 10−3 kg m−2. More downward flux is noticed in the north-west and south-west side of the cyclone centre. These results indicate that the cyclones have significant impact in effecting the tropopause structure, ozone and water vapour budget and consequentially the STE in the UTLS region.


1995 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 1503-1520 ◽  
Author(s):  
B Ofori-Amoah

In this paper the impact of regions on the evolution and development of technology is examined via a new paper-making technology (the twin-wire machine) as a case study. In particular, differences in raw material and physical environmental conditions, consumer tastes and preferences, and industrial organization and corporate strategies between the two regions, North America and Europe, provided different demand and supply conditions for the development of the twin-wire technology. These conditions initially influenced the development of different twin-wire trajectories in North America and Europe. Later on, these trajectories began to converge as the supply and demand conditions, which had established them, began to change.


2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 26-33
Author(s):  
Daisy Mui Hung Kee ◽  
Nur Amira Liyana ◽  
Zhang LuXin ◽  
Nur Atikah ◽  
Ninie Alwanis ◽  
...  

As a result of the Covid-19 epidemic, every industry in the world has been greatly affected. We took Malaysia's Petronas as an example to analyze how oil and gas industries were impacted by such a difficult international situation. This paper investigated how Covid-19 affected Petronas and how it responded to the sharp drop in oil price. In a questionnaire survey, we listed the problems that Petronas may face in this outbreak.


2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 356-375
Author(s):  
Busani Moyo

The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of crime proxied by different indicators on regional tourist inflows to South Africa. The estimations are carried out using the Johansen estimation techniques. Monthly data gathered from March 2003 to April 2011 is employed and the results from the estimations found that total crime has a negative effect on tourists from Africa, North America, Central and Southern America, West and Southern Europe. However, the level of crime in the country appears to have no influence at all to tourist from the Middle East whilst those from Asia are more sensitive to the level of sexual crime. At the different categories of crime investigated, tourists react differently. In line with the findings of the existing literature, the real exchange rate and world income remain to have a significant effect on tourist inflows from most of the regions.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamadou Diallo ◽  
Martin Riese ◽  
Thomas Birner ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Rolf Müller ◽  
...  

Abstract. The stratospheric circulation determines the transport and lifetime of key greenhouse gases, including water vapor and ozone, which radiatively impact surface climate. The unusually warm El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) event aligned with a disrupted Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) caused an unprecedented perturbation to this circulation in 2015–2016. Here, we quantify the impact of the alignment of these two phenomena in 2015–2016 on lower stratospheric water vapor and ozone from satellite observations. We show that the warm ENSO event substantially increases water vapor and decreases ozone in the tropical lower stratosphere. The QBO disruption significantly decreases global lower stratospheric water vapor and tropical ozone from early spring to late autumn. Thus, this QBO disruption reverses the lower stratosphere moistening triggered by the alignment of the warm ENSO event with westerly QBO in early boreal winter. Our results suggest that the interplay of ENSO events and QBO phases will be crucial for the distributions of radiatively active greenhouse gases in a changing future climate, when increasing El Niño-like conditions and decreasing lower stratospheric QBO amplitude are expected.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1230
Author(s):  
Andrej David ◽  
Peter Mako ◽  
Jan Lizbetin ◽  
Patrik Bohm

The paper deals with the impact that an environmental way of thinking has on shipping and transport company customers regarding their preferences in choosing a transport route. Nowadays, maritime transport plays a very important role mainly in transoceanic container transport. It also deals with the statistics focused on container shipping, especially between North America and Europe. These statistics contribute to a general description of the development of container shipping on the route that is applicated in this case study. The significant impact of this kind of transport also reflects the estimation of the future development of container transport on the selected transport route. In this view, the least square method is used in this paper. This method can present the trend of development according to statistics. Thanks to these materials, this paper estimates a slight increase of the number of containers transported between North America and Europe in the near future. This increase will have a certain effect on the environment. Thus, as part of their business policy of sustainability and environment protection, customers will prefer a mode of transport and transport routes featuring a smaller effect on the environment in the future. The relevance of such a change in preferences in planning transport routes for the customer is reflected in the case study presented in this paper. So, one part of this paper is also dedicated to information about the impact of maritime transport on the environment. This part also explains the impact according to different studies that have been published in the last few years. The main contribution of this paper is also to point out the importance of this factor for the preferences of customers via the multi-criteria decision method. Using a multi-criteria decision method, it outlines how the factor of the impact on the environment can significantly change the offer made by a transport or shipping company, and thus how it represents a key element of whether the customer would prefer the given offer or focus on a competitor’s offer.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mengchu Tao ◽  
Paul Konopka ◽  
Felix Ploeger ◽  
Xiaolu Yan ◽  
Jonathon S. Wright ◽  
...  

Abstract. Stratospheric water vapor (SWV) plays important roles in the radiation budget and ozone chemistry and is a valuable tracer for understanding stratospheric transport. Meteorological reanalyses provide variables necessary for simulating this transport; however, even recent reanalyses are subject to substantial uncertainties, especially in the stratosphere. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the consistency among SWV distributions simulated using different input reanalysis products. In this study, we evaluate the representation of SWV and its variations on multiple timescales using simulations over the period 1980–2013. Our simulations are based on the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) driven by horizontal winds and diabatic heating rates from three recent reanalyses: ERA-Interim, JRA-55 and MERRA-2. We present an inter-comparison among these model results and observationally-based estimates, using a multiple linear regression method to study the annual cycle (AC), the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), and longer-term variability in monthly zonal-mean H2O mixing ratios forced by variations in the El-Nino–Southern Oscillation and the volcanic aerosol burden. We find reasonable consistency among simulations of the distribution and variability of SWV with respect to the AC and QBO. However, the amplitudes of both signals are systematically weaker in the lower and middle stratosphere when CLaMS is driven by MERRA-2 than when it is driven by ERA-Interim or JRA-55. This difference is primarily attributable to relatively slow tropical upwelling in the lower stratosphere in simulations based on MERRA-2. Two possible contributors of the slow tropical upwelling in the lower stratosphere are found to be the large long-wave radiative effect and the unique assimilation process in MERRA-2. The impacts of ENSO and volcanic aerosol on H2O entry variability are qualitatively consistent among the three simulations despite differences of 50–100 % in the magnitudes. Trends show larger discrepancies among the three simulations. CLaMS driven by ERA-Interim produces a neutral to slightly positive trend in H2O entry values over 1980–2013 (+0.01 ppmv decade-1), while both CLaMS driven by JRA-55 and CLaMS driven by MERRA-2 produce negative trends but with significantly different magnitudes (−0.22 ppmv decade-1 and −0.08 ppmv decade-1, respectively).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dina Khordakova ◽  
Christian Rolf ◽  
Martina Krämer ◽  
Martin Riese

<p>Water vapor is one of the strongest greenhouse gases of the atmosphere. Its driving role in the upper troposphere / lower stratosphere region (UTLS) for the radiation budget was shown by e.g. Riese et al., (2012). Despite its low abundance of 4 - 6 ppmv in the stratosphere, even small changes in its mixing ratio can leed to a positive feedback to global warming. To better understand changes and variability of water vapor in the lower stratosphere, we focus here on exchange processes from the moist troposphere to the dry stratosphere in the mid latitudes. These processes are caused by extreme vertical convection, which is expected to increase in intensity and frequency with progressive global climate change.</p><p>Within the MOSES (Modular Observation Solutions for Earth Systems) campaign in the summer of 2019, two extreme vertical convection events could be captured with balloon borne humidity sensors over the eastern part of Germany. The comparison of measurements before and after both events reveal distinct water vapor enhancements in the lower stratosphere and show that even in mid-latitudes over shooting convection can impact the water vapor mixing ratio in the UTLS. The measurements are compared with the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) data as well as ECMWF reanalysis data.</p><p><span>We will show a deeper analysis of both events by using visible and infrared weather satellite images in combination with meteorological fields of ECMWF. </span><span>B</span><span>ackward trajectories of the air masses </span><span>with the enriched water vapor mixing ratios </span><span>calculated with</span><span> the CLAMS model </span><span>and</span> <span>combined</span><span> with the satellite images can </span><span>confirm the convective origin. </span><span>Additionally,</span><span> we show the </span><span>further </span><span>development of this distinct water vapor filaments within the lower stratosphere </span><span>in order to</span><span> trace the transport and mixing process, </span><span>based on an</span> <span>analysis of forward trajectories.</span></p>


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