Determination of Tropical Belt Widening Using Multiple GNSS Radio Occultation Measurements

In the last decades, Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) have provided an exceptional opportunity to retrieve atmospheric parameters globally through GNSS radio occultation (GNSS-RO). In this paper, data of 12 GNSS-RO missions from June 2001 to November 2020 with high resolution were used to investigate the possible widening of the tropical belt along with the probable drivers and impacts in both hemispheres. Applying both lapse rate tropopause (LRT) and cold point tropopause (CPT) definitions, the global tropopause height shows increase of approximately 36 m/decade and 60 m/decade, respectively. Moreover, the tropical edge latitude (TEL) estimated based on two tropopause height metrics, in the northern hemisphere (NH) and southern hemisphere (SH), are different from each other. For the first metric, subjective method, the tropical width from GNSS has expansion behavior in NH with ~ 0.41°/decade and a minor expansion in SH with ~ 0.08°/decade. In case of ECMWF Reanalysis v5 (ERA5) there is no significant contraction in both NH and SH. For Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), there are expansion behavior in NH with ~ 0.34°/decade and strong contraction in SH with ~ −0.48°/decade. Using the second metric, objective method, the tropical width from GNSS has expansion in NH with ~ 0.13°/decade, and no significant expansion in SH. In case of ERA5, there is no significant signal in NH while SH has a minor contraction. AIRS has an expansion with ~ 0.13°/decade in NH, and strong contraction in SH with ~ −0.37°/decade. The variability of tropopause parameters (temperature and height) is maximum around the TEL locations at both hemispheres. The total column ozone (TCO) shows increasing rates globally, and the rate of increase at the SH is higher than that of the NH. There is a good agreement between the spatial and temporal patterns of TCO variability and the TEL location estimated from GNSS LRT height. Carbon dioxide (CO2), and Methane (CH4), the most important greenhouse gases (GHGs) and the main drivers of global warming, have a global increasing rate and the increasing rate of the NH is similar to that of the SH. The spatial pattern in the NH is located more pole ward than its equivalent at the SH. Both surface temperature and precipitation increase in time and have strong correlation with GNSS LRT height. Both show higher increasing rates at the NH, while the precipitation at the SH has slight decrease and the surface temperature increases. The surface temperature shows a spatial pattern with strong variability, which broadly agrees with the TEL locations. The spatial pattern of precipitation shows northward occurrence. In addition, Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) has no direct connection with the TEL behavior.

Traceable total ozone column retrievals from direct solar spectral irradiance measurements in the ultraviolet

Total column ozone (TCO) is commonly measured by Brewer and Dobson spectroradiometers. Both types of instruments are using four wavelengths in the ultraviolet radiation range to derive TCO. For the calibration and quality assurance of the measured TCO both instrument types require periodic field comparisons with a reference instrument. This study presents traceable TCO retrievals from direct solar spectral irradiance measurements with the portable UV reference instrument QASUME. TCO is retrieved by a spectral fitting technique derived by a minimal least square fit algorithm using spectral measurements in the wavelength range between 305 nm and 345 nm. The retrieval is based on an atmospheric model accounting for different atmospheric parameters such as effective ozone temperature, aerosol optical depth, Rayleigh scattering, SO2, ground air pressure, ozone absorption cross sections and top-of-atmosphere solar spectrum. Traceability means, that the QASUME instrument is fully characterized and calibrated in the laboratory to SI standards (International System of Units). The TCO retrieval method from this instrument is independent from any reference instrument and does not require periodic in situ field calibration. The results show that TCO from QASUME can be retrieved with a relative standard uncertainty of less than 0.8 %, when accounting for all possible uncertainties from the measurements and the retrieval model, such as different cross sections, different reference solar spectra, uncertainties from effective ozone temperature or other atmospheric parameters. The long-term comparison of QASUME TCO with a Brewer and a Dobson in Davos, Switzerland, reveals, that all three instruments are consistent within 1 % when using the ozone absorption cross section from the University of Bremen. From the results and method presented here, other absolute SI calibrated cost effective solar spectroradiometers, such as array spectroradiometers, may be applied for traceable TCO monitoring.

Rate of change of total column ozone and monsoon rainfall - A co-variation with the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux during pre-monsoon period

A critical analysis is done on the variation of the rate of change of Total Column Ozone (TCO) over Dum Dum (22° 38 N, 88° 26 E) and Total Monsoon Rainfall over Gangetic West Bengal with the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux during different seasons for the period 1997- 2005. An anti-correlation is observed between the variable component with the rate of change of TCO during the pre-monsoon and monsoon period and significant positive correlations during the post-monsoon and winter seasons. Quite insignificant positive correlations are observed between the variable component and Total Monsoon Rainfall during different seasons for this period. A co-variation is observed with the increase in the variable component of 10.7 cm solar flux throughout the period of study only during the pre-monsoon season. Possible explanations are also presented.

Assessing the Influence of Inter Tropical Discontinuity on Total Column Ozone Variation Over West Africa

The focus of this study is to evaluate the influence of Intertropical Discontinuity (ITD) on the variation of Total column ozone (TCO). Relevant information is supplied on the temporal and spatial variability of TCO along the ITD zone, which is an important factor influencing the earth's atmosphere. Several studies over the years have established the relationship and influence several atmospheric processes have on TCO. However, the relationship between Intertropical discontinuity and TCO over West Africa has a gap. This study tends to examine the influence ITD has on TCO variation using the West Africa region as a case study. The study used Wind, ozone and dewpoint temperature data for the period between 1980-2019. To assess the variability and trend over the study region, several statistical methods were used, including Pearson correlation, Mann-Kendall, and linear regression model. The Mann-Kendall test shows an increasing trend throughout the months over the study region. Spatial analysis also revealed that regions North of the ITD has a higher concentration of TCO that the southern region of the ITD. however, ITD influence was more visible during the wet month of June to August (JJA) as the highest concentration of TCO was observed during this period across all latitude but more deviation was observed between latitude 100N to 180N, while the least occurrence is observed when ITD is at its minimum position in the month of December to February (DJF). The ACRV shows that 140N exhibit the highest variation with a value of 4.84, while the deviation is also at its highest with value of 13.65. The monthly position of ITD for Forty years was also analysed to observe the monthly deviation along the ITD region forty years and the spatial distribution of TCO was analysed from January to December. It’s of note that during the cause of this study, ozone hole which is designated by concentration less than or equal to 220DU was not recorded. The highest and the lowest value of TCO is 295DU and 227DU respectively with an average range of 68DU.

Stratospheric Ozone Response to Sulfate Aerosol and Solar Dimming Climate Interventions based on the G6 Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) Simulations

This study assesses the impacts of sulfate aerosol intervention (SAI) and solar dimming on stratospheric ozone based on the G6 Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) experiments, called G6sulfur and G6solar. For G6sulfur the stratospheric sulfate aerosol burden is increased to reflect some of the incoming solar radiation back into space in order to cool the surface climate, while for G6solar the global solar constant is reduced to achieve the same goal. The high emissions scenario SSP5-8.5 is used as the baseline experiment and surface temperature from the medium emission scenario SSP2-4.5 is the target. Based on three out of six Earth System Models (ESMs) that include interactive stratospheric chemistry, we find significant differences in the ozone distribution between G6solar and G6sulfur experiments compared to SSP5-8.5 and SSP2-4.5, which differ by both region and season. Both SAI and solar dimming methods reduce incoming solar insolation and result in tropospheric temperatures comparable to SSP2-4.5 conditions. G6sulfur increases the concentration of absorbing sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere, which increases lower tropical stratospheric temperatures by between 5 to 13 K for six different ESMs, leading to changes in stratospheric transport. The increase of the aerosol burden also increases aerosol surface area density, which is important for heterogeneous chemical reactions. The resulting changes in ozone include a significant reduction of total column ozone (TCO) in the Southern Hemisphere polar region in October of 10 DU at the onset and up to 20 DU by the end of the century. The relatively small reduction in TCO for the multi-model mean in the first two decades results from variations in the required sulfur injections in the models and differences in the complexity of the chemistry schemes, with no significant ozone loss for 2 out of 3 models. The decrease in the second half of the 21st century counters increasing TCO between SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 due to the super-recovery resulting from increasing greenhouse gases. In contrast, in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) high latitudes, only a small initial decline in TCO is simulated, with little change in TCO by the end of the century compared to SSP5-8.5. All models consistently simulate an increase in TCO in the NH mid-latitudes up to 20 DU compared to SSP5-8.5, in addition to 20 DU increase resulting from increasing greenhouse gases between SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5. G6solar counters zonal wind and tropical upwelling changes between SSP2-4.5 and SSP5-8.5 but does not change stratospheric temperatures. Solar dimming results in little change in TCO compared to SSP5-8.5 and does not counter the effects of the ozone super-recovery. Only in the tropics, G6solar results in an increase of TCO of up to 8 DU compared to SSP2-4.5, which may counter the projected reduction due to climate change in the high forcing future scenario. This work identifies differences in the response of SAI and solar dimming on ozone, which are at least partly due to differences and shortcomings in the complexity of aerosol microphysics, chemistry, and the description of ozone photolysis in the models. It also identifies that solar dimming, if viewed as an analog to SAI using a predominantly scattering aerosol, would, for the most part, not counter the potential harmful increase in TCO beyond historical values induced by increasing greenhouse gases.

Ozone variations pertaining to dry and wet monsoon seasons over Indian region

’kq"d vkSj vknzZ ekulwu o"kkZsa ds nkSjku Vh-lh-vks- forj.k dk v/;;u djus ds fy, Hkkjrh; {ks+= esa o"kZ 1982]1983]1987 ,oa 1988 ds dqy dkWye vkstksu ¼Vh-lh-vks-½ ds ekfld vkSlr dk mi;ksx fd;k x;k gS A bl ’kks/k&Ik= esa mDr o"kksZa ds Hkkjr ds 13 LVs’kuksa ds Vh-lh-vks- vkadM+ksa dk v/;;u fd;k x;k gSA ’kq"d vkSj vknzZ ekulwu o"kksZa ds nkSjku Vh-lh-vks- forj.k dh rqyuk ls ;g irk pyk gS fd Vh-lh-vks- ds eku vknZz o"kksZa dh rqyuk esa ’kq"d o"kksZa esa vf/kd ik, x, gSaA Vh-lh-vks- esa ifjorZu gksuk ’kq"d ,oa vknzZ o"kksZa ds nkSjku laoguh; xfrfof/k esa fHkUurk dks ekuk tk ldrk gSA ’kq"d ¼vknzZ½ o"kksZa ds nkSjku laogu esa deh ¼o`f)½ Vh-lh-vks- dh ek=k dks c<+krh ?kVkrh gSA ’kq"d ,oa vknzZ o"kksZa ds chp ds ekulwu ds eghuksa ds nkSjku Vh-lh-vks- ds egRo dh tk¡p djus ds fy, lkaf[;dh; Vh--VsLV dk iz;ksx fd;k x;k gSA ;g varj nene dks NksM+dj vU; lHkh LVs’kuksa ds fy, lkaf[;dh; n`f"V ls 5 izfr’kr rd egRoiw.kZ gSA ,slk dgk tk ldrk gS fd Hkkjr esa xzh"edkyhu ekulwu eghuksa ds nkSjku vks-,y-vkj- rFkk Vh-lh-vks- ds chp vPNs laca/k jgs gSa D;ksafd bl vof/k ds nkSjku laogu dkQh izcy jgk gS A Monthly mean total column ozone (TCO) over Indian region for the years 1982, 1983, 1987 and 1988 has been utilized to study the TCO distribution during dry and wet monsoon years. TCO data for 13 Indian stations for the above years have been considered in the study. Comparison of TCO distribution during dry and wet monsoon years suggested that TCO values are found higher during dry years than those in wet years. The changes in TCO may be attributed to difference in convective activity during dry and wet years. The suppressed (enhanced) convection during dry (wet) years may lead to increase (decrease) in TCO. The statistical t-test is applied to test the significance of TCO difference during monsoon months between dry and wet years. The difference is statistically significant at 5% level of confidence for all stations except Dumdum. It can be said that the relation between OLR and TCO holds good during Indian summer monsoon months, as convection is stronger during this period.

Climatological Study of Ozone over Saudi Arabia

In this work, analysis of the variability of total column ozone (TCO) over the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been conducted during the 1979–2020 period based on the ECMWF-ERA5 dataset. It is found that the highest values of TCO appear in the spring and winter months especially over north KSA, while the lowest values of TCO occur in the autumn months. The highest values of the coefficient of variation (COV) for TCO occur in winter and spring as they gradually decrease southward, while the lowest COV values appear in summer and autumn. The Mann–Kendall test indicates that the positive trend values are dominant for the annual and seasonal TCO values over KSA, and they gradually increase southward. The study of long-term variability of annual TCO at KSA stations shows negative trend values are the dominant behavior during the 1979–2004 period, while positive trend values are the dominant behavior during the 2004–2020 period. The Mann–Whitney test assessed the abrupt change of the annual TCO time series at 28 stations in KSA and confirmed that there is an abrupt change towards increasing values around 2000, 2005, and 2014. The climatological monthly mean of the ozone mass mixing ratio (OMR) is studied at three stations representing the north, middle, and south of KSA. The highest values of OMR are found in the layer between 20 and 4 hPa with the maximum in summer and early autumn, while the lowest values are found below 100 hPa.

Situation of Urban Mobility in Pakistan: Before, During, and after the COVID-19 Lockdown with Climatic Risk Perceptions

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has impacted the usual global movement patterns, atmospheric pollutants, and climatic parameters. The current study sought to assess the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on urban mobility, atmospheric pollutants, and Pakistan’s climate. For the air pollution assessment, total column ozone (O3), sulphur dioxide (SO2), and tropospheric column nitrogen dioxide (NO2) data from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from the Multi-angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), and dust column mass density (PM2.5) data from the MERRA-2 satellite were used. Furthermore, these datasets are linked to climatic parameters (temperature, precipitation, wind speed). The Kruskal–Wallis H test (KWt) is used to compare medians among k groups (k > 2), and the Wilcoxon signed-rank sum test (WRST) is for analyzing the differences between the medians of two datasets. To make the analysis more effective, and to justify that the variations in air quality parameters are due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a Generalized Linear Model (GLM) was used. The findings revealed that the limitations on human mobility have lowered emissions, which has improved the air quality in Pakistan. The results of the study showed that the climatic parameters (precipitation, Tmax, Tmin, and Tmean) have a positive correlation and wind speed has a negative correlation with NO2 and AOD. This study found a significant decrease in air pollutants (NO2, SO2, O3, AOD) of 30–40% in Pakistan during the strict lockdown period. In this duration, the highest drop of about 28% in NO2 concentrations has been found in Karachi. Total column O3 did not show any reduction during the strict lockdown, but a minor decline was depicted as 0.38% in Lahore and 0.55% in Islamabad during the loosening lockdown. During strict lockdown, AOD was reduced up to 23% in Islamabad and 14.46% in Lahore. The results of KWt and WRST evident that all the mobility indices are significant (p < 0.05) in nature. The GLM justified that restraining human activities during the lockdown has decreased anthropogenic emissions and, as a result, improved air quality, particularly in metropolitan areas.