Improvement of Odin/SMR water vapour and temperature measurements and validation of the obtained data sets

Its long photochemical lifetime makes H2O a good tracer for mesospheric dynamics. Temperature observations are also critical to study middle atmospheric dynamics. In this study, we present the reprocessing of 18 years of mesospheric H2O and temperature measurements from the Sub-Millimetre Radiometer (SMR) aboard the Odin satellite, resulting in a part of the SMR version 3.0 level 2 data set. The previous version of the data set showed poor accordance with measurements from other instruments, which suggested that the retrieved concentrations and temperature were subject to instrumental artefacts. Different hypotheses have been explored, and the idea of an underestimation of the single-sideband leakage turned out to be the most reasonable one. The value of the lowest transmission achievable has therefore been raised to account for greater sideband leakage, and new retrievals have been performed with the new settings. The retrieved profiles extend between 40–100 km altitude and cover the whole globe to reach 85∘ latitudes. A validation study has been carried out, revealing an overall better accordance with the compared instruments. In particular, relative differences in H2O mixing ratio are always in the ±20 % range between 40 and 70 km and diverge at higher altitudes, while temperature absolute differences are within ±5 K between 40–80 km and also diverge at higher altitudes.

Assimilation of atmospheric infrasound data to constrain tropospheric and stratospheric winds

<p>We use acoustical infrasound from explosions to probe an atmospheric wind component from the ground up to stratospheric altitudes. Planned explosions of old ammunition in Finland generate transient infrasound waves that travel through the atmosphere. These waves are partially reflected back towards the ground from stratospheric levels, and are detected at a receiver station located in northern Norway at 178 km almost due North from the explosion site. The difference between the true horizontal direction towards the source and the back-azimuth direction of the incoming infrasound wave-fronts, in combination with the pulse propagation time, are exploited to provide an estimate of the average cross-wind component in the penetrated atmosphere. <br>We perform offline assimilation experiments with an ensemble Kalman filter and these observations, using the ERA5 ensemble reanalysis atmospheric product as background (prior) for the wind at different vertical levels. Information from both sources is combined to obtain analysis (posterior) estimates of cross-winds at different vertical levels of the atmospheric slice between the explosion site and the recording station. The assimilation makes greatest impact at the 12-60 km levels, with some changes with respect to the prior of the order of 0.1-1.0 m/s, which is a magnitude larger than the typical standard deviation of the ERA5 background. The reduction of background variance in the higher levels often reached 2-5%. <br>This is the first study demonstrating  techniques to implement assimilation of infrasound data into atmospheric models. It paves the way for further exploration in the use of infrasound  observations (especially natural and continuous sources) to probe the middle atmospheric dynamics and to assimilate these data into atmospheric model products.  </p>

First measurements of tides in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere by ground-based Doppler microwave wind radiometry

Atmospheric tides are important for the vertical coupling in the atmosphere from the stratosphere down to the troposphere and up to the ionosphere. They are gravity waves with well-known periods that are integer fractions of a day and can be observed in the temperature or wind field in the atmosphere. Current lidar and satellite techniques measure atmospheric tides only in the temperature field and continuous measurements of the tides in the wind field of the stratosphere and lower mesosphere are not available. In this study, we present measurements of the diurnal tide in the wind field in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere by ground based microwave wind radiometry for two different campaigns in tropical and polar regions. Further, we compare our measurements to MERRA-2 reanalysis data. In the three-monthly mean, we find a good overall correspondence between measurements and reanalysis with the most important features of the diurnal tides represented in both data sets. When looking at shorter timescales, we find an intermittency of the diurnal tide that is not represented in the MERRA-2 reanalysis data. We conclude, that continuous ground based observations of tides in the middle atmospheric wind field are feasible, even on short timescales of 7 to 13 days, and thus provide additional insight to middle atmospheric dynamics that is complementary to temperature observations and reanalysis data.

Investigation of Arctic middle-atmospheric dynamics using 3 years of H₂O and O₃ measurements from microwave radiometers at Ny-Ålesund

We use 3 years of water vapour and ozone measurements to analyse dynamical events in the polar middle atmosphere such as sudden stratospheric warmings (SSW), polar vortex shifts, water vapour descent rates and periodicities. The measurements were performed with the two ground-based microwave radiometers MIAWARA-C and GROMOS-C which are co-located at the AWIPEV research base at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (79° N, 12° E) since September 2015. The almost continuous datasets of water vapour and ozone are characterised by a high time resolution in the order of hours. A thorough intercomparison of these datasets with models and measurements from satellite, ground-based and in-situ instruments was performed. In the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere the MIAWARA-C profiles agree within 5 % with SD-WACCM simulations and ACE-FTS measurements whereas AuraMLS measurements show an average offset of 10–15 % depending on altitude but constant in time. Stratospheric GROMOS-C profiles are within 5 % of the satellite instruments AuraMLS and ACE-FTS and the ground-based microwave radiometer OZORAM which is also located at Ny-Ålesund. During these first three years of the measurement campaign typical phenomena of the Arctic middle atmosphere took place and we analysed their signatures in the water vapour and ozone datasets. Inside of the polar vortex in autumn we found the descent rate of mesospheric water vapour to be 435 m/day on average. In early 2017 distinct increases in mesospheric water vapour of about 2 ppm were observed when the polar vortex was displaced and midlatitude air was brought to Ny-Ålesund. Two major sudden stratospheric warmings took place in March 2016 and February 2018 where ozone enhancements of up to 4 ppm were observed. The zonal wind reversals accompanying a major SSW were captured in the GROMOS-C wind profiles which are retrieved from the ozone spectra. After the SSW in February 2018 the polar vortex re-established and the water vapour descent rate in the mesosphere was 355 m/day. In the water vapour and ozone time series signatures of atmospheric waves with periods close to 2, 5, 10 and 16 days were found.

Enhanced internal gravity wave activity and breaking over the northeastern Pacific–eastern Asian region

We have found a stratospheric area of anomalously low annual cycle amplitude and specific dynamics in the stratosphere over the northeastern Pacific–eastern Asia coastal region. Using GPS radio occultation density profiles from the Formosat Satellite Mission 3/Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC), we have discovered an internal gravity wave (IGW) activity and breaking hotspot in this region. Conditions supporting orographic wave sourcing and propagation were found. Other possible sources of wave activity in this region are listed. The reasons why this particular IGW activity hotspot was not discovered before as well as why the specific dynamics of this region have not been pointed out are discussed together with the weaknesses of using the mean potential energy as a wave activity proxy. Possible consequences of the specific dynamics in this region on the middle atmospheric dynamics and transport are outlined.

Enhanced internal gravity wave activity and breaking over the Northeastern Pacific/Eastern Asian region

We have found a stratospheric area of anomalously low annual cycle amplitude and specific dynamics in the stratosphere over the Northeastern Pacific/Eastern Asia coastal region. Using GPS radio occultation density profiles from FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC, we have discovered an internal gravity wave activity and breaking hotspot in this region. Conditions supporting orographic wave sourcing and propagation were found. Other possible sources of wave activity in this region are listed. The reasons, why this particular IGW activity hotspot was not discovered before nor the specific dynamics of this region was pointed out, are discussed together with weaknesses of using the mean potential energy as a wave activity proxy. Possible consequences of the specific dynamics in this region on the middle atmospheric dynamics and transport are outlined.