Spectropolarimetry as a tool for understanding the diversity of planetary atmospheres

The polarization state of starlight reflected by a planetary atmosphere uniquely reveals coverage, particle size, and composition of aerosols as well as changing cloud patterns. It is not possible to obtain a comparable level of detail from flux-only observations. It is therefore a powerful tool to better understand the crucial role played by clouds and aerosols in the chemistry, dynamics, and radiative balance of a planet. Furthermore, polarization observations can probe the atmosphere of planets independently of the orbital geometry (hence it applies to both transiting and non-transiting exoplanets). A high-resolution spectropolarimeter with a broad wavelength coverage, particularly if attached to a large space telescope, would enable simultaneous study of the polarimetric planetary properties of the continuum and to look for and characterize the polarimetric signal due to scattering from single molecules, providing detailed information about the composition and vertical structure of the atmosphere.

Climate controls on water chemistry states and dynamics in rivers across Australia

We need to understand spatial variability in the mean concentrations and dynamics of riverine water quality for effective water quality management. Using river chemistry data for up to 578 locations across the Australian continent, we assessed the impact of climate zones on (i) interannual mean concentration and (ii) river chemistry dynamics as represented by constituent export regimes (ratio of the coefficients of variation of concentration and discharge) and export patterns (slope of the concentration-discharge relationship). We found that interannual mean concentrations vary significantly by climate zones. However, export regimes and patterns are generally consistent across climate zones. This suggests that intrinsic properties of individual constituents rather than catchment properties determine export regimes and patterns. The spatially consistent river chemistry dynamics highlights the potential to predict riverine water quality across the Australian continent, which will support national riverine water quality management.

The Unusual Intensity Pattern of OH(6,2) and O(1S) Airglow Observed Over the Andes Lidar Observatory

<p>Simultaneous observations of OH(6,2) and O(<sup>1</sup>S) nightglow at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) from September 2011 to April 2018 have been analyzed to investigate an unusual intensity pattern showing an O(<sup>1</sup>S) nightglow intensity enhancement concurrent with an OH(6,2) nightglow intensity weakening. About 142 nights have been identified in the time period showing a remarkable biannual occurrence rate with maxima during the equinoxes. A semidiurnal (12-h) tide fitting applied to the 30-min bin size monthly averaged data shows that the largest amplitudes of the semidiurnal tide were observed for the months of April and August-October in the OH(6,2) data and April and September in the O(<sup>1</sup>S) data. It was also found that SABER’s atomic oxygen at the O(<sup>1</sup>S) peak height is 1.3-2.5 times higher during the nights that displayed the unusual intensity pattern. Simulations using the nonlinear, time-dependent, OH Chemistry Dynamics (OHCD) and Multiple Airglow Chemistry Dynamics (MACD) models have also been used to investigate the effect of a long-period wave on the OH(6,2) and O(<sup>1</sup>S) airglow intensities. The simulation results are in good agreement with the observations and replicate the unusual intensity pattern observed in the OH(6,2) and O(<sup>1</sup>S) airglow data.</p>

Coupling of Arctic ozone and stratospheric dynamics and its influence on surface climate: the role of CFC concentrations.

<p>Arctic stratospheric ozone has been shown to exert a statistically significant influence on Northern Hemispheric surface climate. This suggests that Arctic ozone is not only passively responding to dynamical variability in the stratosphere, but actively feeds back into the circulation through chemical and radiative processes. However, the extent and causality of the chemistry-dynamics coupling is still unknown. Since many state-of-the-art climate models lack a sufficient representation of ozone-dynamic feedbacks, a quantification of this coupling can be used to improve intra-seasonal weather and long-term climate forecasts.</p><p>We assess the importance of the ozone-dynamics coupling by performing simulations with and without interactive chemistry in two Chemistry Climate Models. The chemistry-dynamics coupling was examined in two different sets of time-slice simulations: one using pre-industrial, and one using year-2000 boundary conditions. We focus on the impact of sudden stratospheric warmings (SSW) and strong vortex events on stratosphere-troposphere coupling, since these go along with strong ozone anomalies and therefore an intensified ozone feedback.  We compare the runs with and without interactive chemistry.</p><p>For pre-industrial conditions, simulations without interactive ozone show a more intense and longer lasting surface signature of SSWs compared to simulations with interactive chemistry. Conversely, for year-2000 conditions, the opposite effect is found: interactive chemistry amplifies the surface signature of SSWs. Following these results, atmospheric CFC concentrations, which differ greatly in the pre-industrial and year-2000 runs, determine the sign of the ozone-circulation feedback, and thus have a strong impact on chemistry-climate coupling. Implications for modeling of stratosphere-troposphere coupling and future projections are discussed.</p>