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Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 10, 29971-29995, 2010
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/29971/2010/ doi:10.5194/acpd-10-29971-2010 © Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. |
Enhancements of gravity wave amplitudes at midlatitudes during sudden stratospheric warmings in 2008
1Institute of Applied Physics, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
2Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
3Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, USA
Abstract. Two minor and one major stratospheric warming happened in January and February 2008 when the polar vortex was shifted toward midlatitudes. The analysis of temperature profiles from radiosondes in Payerne (Switzerland) during this period reveals an enhancement of gravity wave amplitudes between 25 and 30 km altitude especially during the two minor warmings around 20 January and 1 February. Increases of gravity wave amplitudes in the mid-stratosphere are associated with a strong tropopause jet and the presence of the polar vortex edge over Switzerland.
Citation: Flury, T., Hocke, K., Kämpfer, N., and Wu, D. L.: Enhancements of gravity wave amplitudes at midlatitudes during sudden stratospheric warmings in 2008, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 10, 29971-29995, doi:10.5194/acpd-10-29971-2010, 2010.