ALBERT

Description: This paper reports on an increase of ozone event observed over Kerguelen (49.4° S, 70.3° E) in relationship with large-scale isentropic transport. This is evidenced by ground-based observations (co-localised radiosonde and SAOZ experiments) together with satellite global observations (Aura/MLS) assimilated into MOCAGE, a Méteo-France model. The study is based on the analyses of the first ozonesonde experiment never recorded at the Kerguelen site within the framework of a French campaign called ROCK that took place from April to August 2008. Comparisons and interpretations of the observed event are supported by co-localised SAOZ observations, by global mapping of tracers (O3, N2O and columns of O3) from Aura/MLS and Aura/OMI experiments, and by model simulations of Ertel Potential Vorticity initialised by the ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) data reanalyses. Satellite and ground-based observational data revealed a consistent increase of ozone in the local stratosphere by mid-April 2008. Additionally, Ozone (O3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) profiles obtained during January–May 2008 using the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite are assimilated into MOCAGE (MOdèle de Chimie Atmosphérique à Grande Echelle), a global three-dimensional chemistry transport model of Météo-France. The assimilated total O3 values are consistent with SAOZ ground observations (within ±5%), and isentropic distributions of O3 match well with maps of advected potential vorticity (APV) derived from the MIMOSA model, a high-resolution advection transport model, and from the ECMWF reanalysis. The event studied seems to be related to the isentropic transport of air masses that took place simultaneously in the lower- and middle-stratosphere, respectively from the polar region and from the tropics to the mid-latitudes. In fact, the ozone increase observed by mid April 2008 resulted simultaneously: (1) from an equator-ward departure of polar air masses characterised with a high-ozone layer in the lower stratosphere (near the 475 K isentropic level), and (2) from a reverse isentropic transport from the tropics to mid- and high-latitudes in the upper stratosphere (nearby the 700 K level). The increase of ozone observed over Kerguelen from the 16-April ozonesonde profile is thus attributed to a concomitant isentropic transport of ozone in two stratospheric layers: the tropical air moving southward and reaching over Kerguelen in the upper stratosphere, and the polar air passing over the same area but in the lower stratosphere.

Description: This paper mainly focuses on the trends and variability of the UT-LS temperature using radiosonde observations carried out over 16 years (January 1993 to December 2008) from a southern subtropical site, Reunion (20.8° S, 55.5° E), using a linear-regression fitting model. Two kinds of tropopause definitions, namely, cold point tropopause (CPT) and lapse rate tropopause (LRT) are used. In order to characterize and quantify the relationship between regional oceanic forcing and temperature at UT-LS, we took into account the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) for the estimation of temperature trends. Results show that the main component is the Annual Cycle (AC), particularly at tropopause (CPT, LRT) and in the lower stratosphere (LS) where more than 26.0±2.4% of temperature variability can be explained by AC. The influence of IOD on the variability of the temperature is at highest ratio at CPT and LS, with respectively 12.3±7.3% and 13.1±5.9%. The correlations between IOD and temperature anomalies at UT-LS are barely significant, which are found to be in close agreement with the results obtained by Rosenlof et al. (2008) over the western tropical Pacific Ocean. The temperature trend in the LS reveals a cooling of about −0.90±0.40 K per decade. The cooling trend at LS is found to be in close agreement with the others studies. Trend estimates in the LS suggest that IOD forcing contributes to increasing cooling by about 0.16±0.05 K per decade. Past works have shown that the additional carbon dioxide increase has a minor effect in the LS, and suggested that other effects than ozone and carbon dioxide changes have to be considered, in order to explain the observed temperature changes in the LS. From this study, we can suggest that the SST changes can be considered also, in addition to effects due to ozone and carbon dioxide changes, in order to explain the observed temperature changes in the LS. As a consequence, our results support the assumption that the Indian Ocean may have a slight impact on temperature variability and on temperature change in the LS over Reunion.

Description: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) lidars, at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (MLO, 19.5° N, 155.6° W) and the JPL Table Mountain Facility (TMF, California, 34.5° N, 117.7° W), have been measuring vertical profiles of stratospheric ozone routinely since the early 1990's and late-1980s respectively. Interannual variability of ozone above these two sites was investigated using a multi-linear regression analysis on the deseasonalised monthly mean lidar and satellite time-series at 1 km intervals between 20 and 45 km from January 1995 to April 2011, a period of low volcanic aerosol loading. Explanatory variables representing the 11 yr solar cycle, the El Niño Southern Oscillation, the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, the Eliassen-Palm flux, and horizontal and vertical transport were used. A new proxy, the mid-latitude Ozone Depleting Gas Index, which shows a decrease with time as an outcome of the Montreal Protocol, was introduced and compared to the more commonly used linear trend method. The analysis also compares the lidar time-series and a merged time-series obtained from the space-borne Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment II, Halogen Occultation Experiment, and Aura-Microwave Limb Sounder instruments. The results from both lidar and satellite measurements are consistent with recent model simulations which propose changes in tropical upwelling. Additionally, at TMF the Ozone Depleting Gas Index explains as much variance as the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in the upper stratosphere. Over the past 17 yr a diminishing downward trend in ozone was observed before 2000 and a net increase, and sign of ozone recovery, is observed after 2005. Our results which include dynamical proxies suggest possible coupling between horizontal transport and the 11 yr solar cycle response, although a dataset spanning a period longer than one solar cycle is needed to confirm this result.

Description: This paper mainly focuses on the trends and variability of the tropopause and UT-LS temperature using radiosonde observations carried out over 16 years (January 1993 to December 2008) from a southern subtropical site, Reunion Island (20.8° S, 55.5° E), using a linear-regression fitting model. Two kinds of tropopause definitions, namely, cold point tropopause (CPT) and lapse rate tropopause (LRT) are used. In the purpose to characterize and quantify the relationship between the regional oceanic forcing and temperature at tropopause and UT-LS, we take into account the Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) for the estimation of temperature trends. Results show that the main component is the Annual Oscillation (AO), particularly at tropopause (CPT, LRT) and in the lower stratosphere (LS) where more than 26% of the variability of temperature can be explained by AO. As a result, the influence of IOD on the variability of the temperature is at highest ratio at CPT and LS, with respectively 12.3% and 13.1%. The results show a low correlation between IOD and the temperature anomalies at tropopause (LRT, CPT) and UT-LS, in the range of 0.08–0.15, with the maximum of correlation at CPT (0.15). In addition, trend estimates at CPT and in the LS suggests that the IOD forcing contributes enhancing the rate of cooling of about 0.1 K per decade. Indeed a trend analysis reveals a cooling of about 0.90±0.40 K per decade at LS and a cooling trend of about 0.36±0.48 K per decade at CPT. The cooling trend at LS is found to be in good agreement with the others studies. These results support the assumption that the Indian Ocean may have a slight impact on temperature variability and on temperature change at CPT and in the LS over Reunion.

Description: The present study delineates the characteristics of Stratospheric Sudden Warming (SSW) events observed over the Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP: 44° N, 6° E). The study uses 20 years of Rayleigh LiDAR temperature measurements for the period, 1982–2001, which corresponds to 2629 daily temperature profiles. Characteristics of warming events, such as type of warming (major and minor), magnitude of warming, height of occurrence and day period of occurrence are presented with emphasis on wave propagation and isentropic transport conditions. The major and minor warming events are classified with respect to temperature increase and reversal in the zonal wind direction in the polar region using reanalysis data from the National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP). SSWs occur with a mean frequency of 2.15 events per winter season. The percentage of occurrence of major and minor warming events are found to be ~23% and ~77%, respectively. The observed major and minor SSW is associated with a descent of the stratopause layer by −6 to 6 km range. The heights of occurrences of major SSWs are distributed between 38 km and 54 km with magnitudes in the 12.2–35.7 K temperature range, while minor SSW occurrences appear in the 42–54 km range, closer to the usual stratopause layer (~47 km) and with a slightly larger range of temperature magnitude (10.2–32.8 K). The observed major and minor events are examined in connection with Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) phases.

Description: This paper reports on an increase of ozone event observed over Kerguelen (49.4° S, 70.3° E) in relationship with large-scale isentropic transport. It is evidenced from ground-based observations, together with satellite global observations and assimilated fields. The study is based on the analyses of the first ozonesonde experiment never recorded at the Kerguelen site in the framework of a French campaign called ROCK that took place from April to August 2008. Comparisons and interpretations of the observed event are supported by co-localised SAOZ observations, by global mapping of tracers (O3, N2O and columns of O3) from Aura/MLS and Aura/OMI experiments, and by model simulations of Ertel Potential Vorticity initialised by ECMWF (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts) data reanalyses. Satellite and ground-based observational data revealed a consistent increase of ozone in the local stratosphere by mid-April 2008. Additionally, Ozone (O3) and nitrous oxide (N2O) profiles obtained during January–May 2008 by the Microwave Lamb Sounder (MLS) aboard the Aura satellite are assimilated into MOCAGE (MOdèle de Chimie Atmosphérique à Grande Echelle), a global three-dimensional chemistry transport model of Météo-France. The assimilated total O3 values are consistent with SAOZ ground observations (within ±5%), and isentropic distributions of O3 are matching well with maps of advected potential vorticity (APV) derived from the MIMOSA model, a high-resolution advection transport model, and from ECMWF reanalysis. The studied event seems to be related to isentropic transport of air masses that took place simultaneously in the lower- and middle-stratosphere, respectively from the polar region and from tropics to the mid-latitudes. In fact, the studied ozone increase by mid April 2008 results simultaneously: (1) from an equator-ward departure of polar air masses characterised with a high-ozone layer in the lower stratosphere (nearby the 475 K isentropic level), and (2) from a reverse isentropic transport from tropics to mid- and high-latitudes in the upper stratosphere (nearby the 700 K level). The increase of ozone observed over Kerguelen from the 16-April ozonesonde profile is then attributed to a concomitant isentropic transport of ozone in two stratospheric layers: the tropical air moving southward and reaches over Kerguelen in the upper stratosphere, and the polar air passing over the same area but in the lower stratosphere.

Description: The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) lidars, at the Mauna Loa Observatory, Hawaii (MLO, 19.5° N, 155.6° W) and the JPL Table Mountain Facility (TMF, California, 34.5° N, 117.7° W), have been measuring vertical profiles of stratospheric ozone routinely since the early 1990's and late-1980s respectively. Interannual variability of ozone above these two sites was investigated using a multi-linear regression analysis on the deseasonalized monthly mean lidar and satellite time-series at 1 km intervals between 20 and 45 km from January 1995 to April 2011, a period of low volcanic aerosol loading. Explanatory variables representing the 11-yr solar cycle, the El Niño Southern Oscillation, the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, the Eliassen–Palm flux, and horizontal and vertical transport were used. A new proxy, the mid-latitude ozone depleting gas index, which shows a decrease with time as an outcome of the Montreal Protocol, was introduced and compared to the more commonly used linear trend method. The analysis also compares the lidar time-series and a merged time-series obtained from the space-borne stratospheric aerosol and gas experiment II, halogen occultation experiment, and Aura-microwave limb sounder instruments. The results from both lidar and satellite measurements are consistent with recent model simulations which propose changes in tropical upwelling. Additionally, at TMF the ozone depleting gas index explains as much variance as the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation in the upper stratosphere. Over the past 17 yr a diminishing downward trend in ozone was observed before 2000 and a net increase, and sign of ozone recovery, is observed after 2005. Our results which include dynamical proxies suggest possible coupling between horizontal transport and the 11-yr solar cycle response, although a dataset spanning a period longer than one solar cycle is needed to confirm this result.