scholarly journals Interaction between the Brewer–Dobson Circulation and the Hadley Circulation

2005 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 4303-4316 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murry L. Salby ◽  
Patrick F. Callaghan

Abstract Interannual changes of the stratospheric circulation are studied in relation to coherent changes of the tropospheric circulation. Emerging over the winter pole is a clear signature of adiabatic warming and anomalous downwelling. Reflecting an intensification of the Brewer–Dobson circulation, the signature of anomalous downwelling extends from stratospheric levels into the troposphere. Compensating for it at subpolar latitudes is a signature of adiabatic cooling and anomalous upwelling. Equally coherent, the signature of anomalous upwelling occupies the same levels as the signature of anomalous downwelling. Inside the tropical troposphere, anomalous cooling is replaced by anomalous warming. It reflects an intensification of organized convection and the Hadley circulation, one that accompanies the intensification of the Brewer–Dobson circulation. These signatures of anomalous vertical motion represent changes that operate coherently in the stratosphere and troposphere. They share major features with the Arctic Oscillation. Extending across the tropopause, they couple the stratosphere and troposphere through a transfer of mass. By modifying vertical motion inside the Tropics, anomalous upwelling influences organized convection. Support for this interpretation comes from anomalous divergence in the tropical upper troposphere; it is shown to vary coherently with anomalous downwelling in the Arctic stratosphere. Exhibiting analogous behavior are changes of the tropical tropopause. Coupled to stratospheric changes, these variations of the tropical circulation act to organize convection about the equator, favoring a split ITCZ. They reflect as much as 40% of the interannual variance of tropical divergence, representing an important complement to ENSO. Much of the covariance between the polar stratosphere and the tropical troposphere is concentrated at periods shorter than 5 yr. Included is variability that is associated with the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the tropical stratosphere. Also included is biennial variability, which accompanies the QBO in the polar stratosphere. These stratospheric variations involve the same time scales as biennial variability in the tropical troposphere, which likewise influences convection.

2010 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 3427-3442 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Schneider ◽  
K. Yoshimura ◽  
F. Hase ◽  
T. Blumenstock

Abstract. We present tropospheric H216O and HD16O/H216O vapour profiles measured by ground-based FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared) spectrometers between 1996 and 2008 at a northern hemispheric subarctic and subtropical site (Kiruna, Northern Sweden, 68° N and Izaña, Tenerife Island, 28° N, respectively). We compare these measurements to an isotope incorporated atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM). If the model is nudged towards meteorological fields of reanalysis data the agreement is very satisfactory on time scales ranging from daily to inter-annual. Taking the Izaña and Kiruna measurements as an example we document the FTIR network's unique potential for investigating the atmospheric water cycle. At the subarctic site we find strong correlations between the FTIR data, on the one hand, and the Arctic Oscillation index and the northern Atlantic sea surface temperature, on the other hand. The Izaña FTIR measurements reveal the importance of the Hadley circulation and the Northern Atlantic Oscillation index for the subtropical middle/upper tropospheric water balance. We document where the AGCM is able to capture these complexities of the water cycle and where it fails.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Zerefos ◽  
John Kapsomenakis ◽  
Kostas Eleftheratos ◽  
Kleareti Tourpali ◽  
Irina Petropavlovskikh ◽  
...  

Abstract. The paper is focusing on the representativeness of single lidar stations for zonally averaged ozone profile variations over the middle and upper stratosphere. From the lower to the upper stratosphere, ozone profiles from single or grouped lidar stations correlate well with zonal means calculated from (Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV) overpasses. The best representativeness is found within a few degrees of latitude north or south of any lidar station. The latitude range with significant correlation coefficients (> 0.4) spans about ±10° in the mid-stratosphere (around 30 hPa) and becomes much larger in the upper stratosphere (around 2 hPa), where it spans a large part of the entire globe. The paper includes also a multiple linear regression analysis on the relative importance of proxy time series for explaining variations in the vertical ozone profiles. Studied proxies represent variability due to influences outside of the earth system (solar cycle), variability due to dynamic processes (the Quasi Biennial Oscillation (QBO), the Arctic Oscillation (AO), Antarctic Oscillation (AAO), El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO)), due to volcanic aerosol (Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD)), due to tropopause height changes (including global warming) and due to manmade contributions to chemistry (Equivalent Effective Stratospheric Chlorine (EESC)). Ozone trends are estimated, with and without removal of proxies, from the total available 1980 to 2015 SBUV record. Except for the chemistry related proxy (EESC), the use of the other proxies does not alter the significance of the estimated long-term trends. At heights above 10 hPa an “inflection point” between 1997 and 1999 marks the end of significant negative ozone trends, followed by a recent period of positive ozone change over the period 1998-2015. At heights below 15 hPa the pre-1998 negative ozone trends tend to become insignificant as we move towards 2015.


2021 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 589-605
Author(s):  
Zane Martin ◽  
Adam Sobel ◽  
Amy Butler ◽  
Shuguang Wang

AbstractThe stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) induces temperature anomalies in the lower stratosphere and tropical tropopause layer (TTL) that are cold when lower-stratospheric winds are easterly and warm when winds are westerly. Recent literature has indicated that these QBO temperature anomalies are potentially important in influencing the tropical troposphere, and particularly in explaining the relationship between the QBO and the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO). The authors examine the variability of QBO temperature anomalies across several time scales using reanalysis and observational datasets. The authors find that, in boreal winter relative to other seasons, QBO temperature anomalies are significantly stronger (i.e., colder in the easterly phase of the QBO and warmer in the westerly phase of the QBO) on the equator, but weaker off the equator. The equatorial and subtropical changes compensate such that meridional temperature gradients and thus (by thermal wind balance) equatorial zonal wind anomalies do not vary in amplitude as the temperature anomalies do. The same pattern of stronger on-equatorial and weaker off-equatorial QBO temperature anomalies is found on decadal time scales: stronger anomalies are seen for 1999–2019 compared to 1979–99. The causes of these changes to QBO temperature anomalies, as well as their possible relevance to the MJO–QBO relationship, are not known.


2007 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 1583-1592 ◽  
Author(s):  
Murry L. Salby ◽  
Patrick F. Callaghan

Abstract Recent evidence points to a decadal modulation of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO), one that varies with the 11-yr cycle of UV irradiance and ozone heating in the upper stratosphere. Interaction between the QBO and the Hadley circulation is considered here through an analysis that accounts for cyclic variations in their relationship, which may cancel and, hence, be invisible in the long-term average. The analysis reveals coherent changes in the tropical stratosphere and troposphere. Involving periods shorter than 5 yr, their relationship manifests itself in major properties associated with the QBO and the Hadley circulation. Like the QBO’s relationship to the polar stratosphere, its relationship to the Hadley circulation reverses on the time scale of a decade. The systematic swing in their relationship leads to two important implications: 1) Interannual changes of one circulation operate coherently with changes of the other, reflecting their interaction. 2) At least one is influenced by a decadal variation. The latter is interpreted in light of the cyclic variation of ozone heating in the upper stratosphere, where the phase of the QBO is set.


Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Song ◽  
Renguang Wu

Previous studies have revealed the relationship between the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) and the Arctic Oscillation (AO). The MJO phase 2/3 is followed by the positive AO phase, and the MJO phase 6/7 is followed by the negative AO phase. This study reveals that the MJO phase 6/7–AO connection is modulated by the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) through both tropospheric and stratospheric pathways during boreal winter. The MJO 2/3 phase and AO relationship is favored in both QBO easterly (QBOE) and westerly (QBOW) years because of the MJO-triggered tropospheric Rossby wave train from the tropics toward the polar region. The AO following the MJO 6/7 phase shifts to negative in QBOW years, but the MJO–AO connection diminishes in QBOE years. In QBOW years, the Asian-Pacific jet is enhanced, leading to more evident poleward propagation of tropospheric Rossby wave train, which contributes to the tropospheric pathway of the AO–MJO 6/7 connection. Besides, the enhanced Asian-Pacific jet in QBOW years is favorable for vertical propagation of planetary waves into the stratosphere in MJO phase 6/7, leading to negative AO, which indicates the stratospheric pathway of the AO–MJO 6/7 connection.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (9) ◽  
pp. 6427-6440 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christos Zerefos ◽  
John Kapsomenakis ◽  
Kostas Eleftheratos ◽  
Kleareti Tourpali ◽  
Irina Petropavlovskikh ◽  
...  

Abstract. This paper is focusing on the representativeness of single lidar stations for zonally averaged ozone profile variations over the middle and upper stratosphere. From the lower to the upper stratosphere, ozone profiles from single or grouped lidar stations correlate well with zonal means calculated from the Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV) satellite overpasses. The best representativeness with significant correlation coefficients is found within ±15∘ of latitude circles north or south of any lidar station. This paper also includes a multivariate linear regression (MLR) analysis on the relative importance of proxy time series for explaining variations in the vertical ozone profiles. Studied proxies represent variability due to influences outside of the earth system (solar cycle) and within the earth system, i.e. dynamic processes (the Quasi Biennial Oscillation, QBO; the Arctic Oscillation, AO; the Antarctic Oscillation, AAO; the El Niño Southern Oscillation, ENSO), those due to volcanic aerosol (aerosol optical depth, AOD), tropopause height changes (including global warming) and those influences due to anthropogenic contributions to atmospheric chemistry (equivalent effective stratospheric chlorine, EESC). Ozone trends are estimated, with and without removal of proxies, from the total available 1980 to 2015 SBUV record. Except for the chemistry related proxy (EESC) and its orthogonal function, the removal of the other proxies does not alter the significance of the estimated long-term trends. At heights above 15 hPa an “inflection point” between 1997 and 1999 marks the end of significant negative ozone trends, followed by a recent period between 1998 and 2015 with positive ozone trends. At heights between 15 and 40 hPa the pre-1998 negative ozone trends tend to become less significant as we move towards 2015, below which the lower stratosphere ozone decline continues in agreement with findings of recent literature.


2011 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 11447-11453 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Hurwitz ◽  
P. A. Newman ◽  
C. I. Garfinkel

Abstract. Despite the record ozone loss observed in March 2011, dynamical conditions in the Arctic stratosphere were unusual but not unprecedented. Weak planetary wave driving in February preceded cold anomalies in the polar lower stratosphere in March and a relatively late breakup of the Arctic vortex in April. La Niña conditions and the westerly phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) were observed in March 2011. Though these conditions are generally associated with a stronger vortex in mid-winter, the respective cold anomalies do not persist through March. Therefore, the La Niña and QBO-westerly conditions cannot explain the observed cold anomalies in March 2011. In contrast, positive sea surface temperature anomalies in the North Pacific may have contributed to the unusually weak tropospheric wave driving and strong Arctic vortex in late winter 2011.


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