Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 7 6 2007 10.5194/acpd-7-15739-2007 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/15739/2007/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/15739/2007/acpd-7-15739-2007.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/7/15739/2007/acpd-7-15739-2007.pdf 15739 15779 2007-11-12 20-year LiDAR observations of stratospheric sudden warming over a mid-latitude site, Observatoire de Haute Provence (OHP; 44° N, 6° E): case study and statistical characteristics D. V. Charyulu vidya@univ-reunion.fr V. Sivakumar H. Bencherif G. Kirgis A. Hauchecorne P. Keckhut D. Narayana Rao Laboratoire de l'Atmosphère et des Cyclones, UMR 8105 CNRS/Université/Météo-France, Université de LaRéunion, Messag 9 BP 1751, Saint Denis, Réunion Island, France National Atmosphere Research Laboratory, Tirupati, Andhra-Pradesh, India National Laser Centre, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), P.O. Box 395, Pretoria 0001, South Africa Service d'Aéronomie, IPSL, UMR CNRS, Paris, France 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. Andrews, D. G., Holton, J. R., and Leovy, C. B.: Middle Atmosphere Dynamics, Academic Press, 1985. Appu, K. S.: On Perturbation in the Thermal structure of tropical Stratosphere and Mesosphere in Winter, Indian J. Radio Space, 13, 35–41, 1984. Baldwin, M. P. and Dunkerton, T. J.: The stratospheric major warming of early December 1987, J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 2863–2884, 1989. Baldwin, M. P. and Dunkerton, T. J.: Downward propagation of the Arctic Oscillation from the stratosphere to the troposphere, J. Geophys. Res., 104, 937–946, 1999. Baldwin, M., Gray, L. J., and Dunkerton, T. J.: The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation, Rev. Geophys., 39, 179–229, 2001. Baldwin, M. P., Hirooka, T., O'Neill, A., Yoden, S., Charlton, A. J., Hio, Y., Lahoz, W. A., and Mori, A.: Major stratospheric warming in the southern hemisphere in 2002: dynamical aspects of the ozonehole split, SPARC Newsletter, 20, 24–26, 2003. Chanin, M. L. and Hauchecorne, A.: Lidar studies of temperature and density using Rayleigh scattering, in: Handbook for MAP: Ground-Based Techniques, edited by: Vincent, R. A., 13, 7, Scientific Committee on Solar Terrestrial Physics, International Council of Scientific Unions, Urbana, IL. 1984. Delisi, D. P. and Dunkerton, T. J.: Seasonal variation of the semiannual oscillation, J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 2772–2787, 1988. Donfrancesco, G., Adriani, A., Gobbi, G. P., and Congeduti, F.: Lidar observations of stratospheric temperatures above McMurdo Station (78 S, 167 E), Antarctica , J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 58, 1391–1399, 1996. Duck, T. J., Whiteway, J. A., and Carswell, A. I.: Lidar observations of gravity wave activity and Arctic stratospheric vortex core warming, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 2813–2816, 1998. Dunkerton, T. J. and Delisi, D. P.: Evolution of potential vorticity in the winter stratosphere of January–February 1979, J. Geophys. Res., 91, 1199–1208, 1986. Dunkerton, T. J., Delisi, D. P., and Baldwin, M. P.: Distribution of major stratospheric warmings in relation to the quasi-biennial oscillation, Geophys. Res. Lett., 15, 136–139, 1988. Dunkerton, T. J. and Baldwin, M. P.: Quasi-biennial Modulation of Planetary-Wave Fluxes in the Northern Hemisphere Winter, J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 1043–1061, 1991. Hansen, J., Russell, G., Rind, D., Stone, P., Lacis, A., Lebedeff, S., Ruedy, R., and Travis, L.: Efficient three-dimensional global models for climate studies: Models I and II, Mon. Weather Rev., 111, 609–662, 1983. Hauchecorne, A. and Chanin, M. L.: Density and temperature profiles obtained by lidar between 35 and 70 km, Geophys. Res. Lett., 8, 565–568, 1980. Hauchecorne, A. and Chanin, M. L.: Mid latitude observations of planetary waves in the middle atmosphere during the winter over 1981–1982, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 3843–3849, 1983. Hauchecorne, A., Chanin, M. L., and Keckhut, P.: Climatology and trends of the middle atmospheric temperature (33–87 KM) as seen by Rayleigh LiDAR over the South of France, J. Geophys. Res., 96(D8), 15 297–15 309, 1991. Hauchecorne, A., Godin, S., Marchand, M., Heese, B., and Souprayen, C.: Quantification of the transport of chemical constituents from the polar vortex to midlatitudes in the lower stratosphere using the high-resolution advection model MIMOSA and effective diffusivity, J. Geophys. Res., 107(D20), 8289, doi:10.1029/2001JD000491, 2002. Heese, B., Godin, S., and Hauchecorne, A.: Forecast and simulation of stratospheric ozone filaments: A validation of a high-resolution PV advection model by airborne ozone lidar measurements in winter 1998–1999, J. Geophys. Res., 106(D17), 20 011–20 024, 2001. Hervig, M. E., Russell III, M., Gordley, L. L., Drayson, S. R., Stone, K., Thompson, E., Gelman, M. E., and McDermid, I. S.: A validation of temperature measurements from the Halogen occultation Experiment, J. Geophys. Res., 101(D6), 10 277–10 286, 1996. Holton, J. R., Pyle, J. A., and Curry, J. A.: Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, Elsevier, 1342–1353, 2002. Holton, J. R. and Austin, J.: The influence of the QBO on sudden stratospheric warmings, J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 607–618, 1991. Jacobi, C., Kurschner, D., Müller, H. G., Pancheva, D., Mitchell, N. J., and Naujokat, B.: Response of the mesopause region dynamics to the February 2001 stratospheric warming, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., 65, 843–855, 2003. Kalnay, E., Kanamitsu, M., Kistler, R., Collins, W., Deaven, D., Gandin, L., Iredell, M., Saha, S., White, G., Woollen, J., Zhu, Y., Chelliah, M., Ebisuzaki, W., Higgins, W., Janowiak, J., Mo, K., Ropelewski, C., Wang, J., Leetmaa, A., Reynolds, R., Jenne, R., and Joseph, D.: The NCEP/ NCAR 40-year re-analysis project, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc., 77, 437–471, 1996. Kanzawa, H.: Four observed sudden stratospheric warmings diagnosed by the Eliassen-Palm flux and refractive index, Dynamics of the Middle Atmosphere, in: Proceedings of a U.S.-Japan Seminar, Honolulu, Hawaii, 8–12 November, 1982, edited by: Holton, J. R. and Matsuno, T., 307–331, 1984. Labitzke, K.: Inter-annual variability of the winter stratosphere in the northern hemisphere, Mon. Weather Rev., 105, 762–770, 1977. Labitzke, K.: Stratospheric-mesospheric midwinter disturbances: a summary of observed characteristics, J. Geophys. Res., 86, 9665–9678, 1981. Labitzke, K.: The amplification of height wave 1 in January 1979: A characteristic precondition for the major warming in February, Mon. Weather Rev., 109, 983–989, 1981. Labitzke, K., Lenschow, R., Naujokat, B., and Petzoldt, K.: First information on the major midwinter warming in February 1981, Beilage zur Berliner Wetterkarte, SO 4/81, 1981. Labitzke, K.: On the interannual variability of the middle stratosphere during the northern winters, J. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn., 60, 124–139, 1982. Labitzke, K.: Sunspots, the QBO, and the stratospheric temperature in the north polar region, Geophys. Res. Lett., 14, 535–537, 1987. Labitzke, K. and van Loon, H.: The Stratosphere-Phenomena, History, and Relevance, Springer, Berlin, 1999. Labitzke, K. and Kunze, M.: Stratospheric temperatures over the Arctic: Comparison of three data sets, Meteorolog. Z., 14, 65–74, 2005. Leblanc, T., McDermid, I. S., She, C. Y., Krueger, D. A., Hauchecorne, A., and Keckhut, P.: Temperature climatology of the middle atmosphere from long-term lidar measurements at mid- and low-latitudes, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 17 191–17 204, 1998. Limpasuvan, V., Thompson., D. W. J., and Hartmann, D. L. : The life cycle of Northern Hemisphere sudden stratospheric warmings, J. Climate, 17, 2584–2596, 2004. Lorenz, E. N.: The nature and theory of general circulation of the atmosphere, No. 218, 161 pp., World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, 1967. Manney, G. L., Kruger, K., Sabutis, J. L., Sena, S. A., and Pawson, S.: The remarkable 2003–2004 winter and other recent warm winters in the Artic stratosphere since the late 1990s, J. Geophys. Res., 100, doi:10.1029/2004JD006367, 2005. Manney, G. L., Lahoz, W. A., Swinbank, R., O'Neill, A., Connew, P. M., and Zurek, R. W.: Simulation of the December 1998 stratospheric major warming, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 2733–2736, 1999. Marchand, M., Godin, S., Hauchecorne, A., Lefévre, F., Bekki, S., and Chipperfield, M.: Influence of polar ozone loss on northern mid-latitude regions estimated by a high-resolution chemistry transport model during winter 1999/2000, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D5), 8326, doi:10.1029/2001JD000906, 2003. Marenco, F., Santacesaria, V., Bais, A., Balis, D., di Sarra, A., Papayannis, A., and Zerefos, C. S.: Optical properties of tropospheric aerosols determined by lidar and spectrophotometric measurements (PAUR campaign), Appl. Opt., 36, 6875–6886, 1997. Matsuno, T.: A dynamical model of the stratospheric sudden warming, J. Atmos. Sci., 28, 1479–1494, 1971. McIntyre, M. E.: How well do we understand the dynamics of stratospheric warmings?, J. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn., 60, 37–65, 1982. McIntyre, M. E. and Palmer, T. N.: Breaking planetary waves in the stratosphere, Nature, 305, 593–600, 1983. Mechoso, C. R., Hartmann, D. L., and Farrara, J. D.: Climatology and interannual variability of wave, mean-flow interaction in the Southern Hemisphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 42, 2189–2206, 1985. Morel, B., Bencherif, H., Keckhut, P., Portafaix, T., Hauchecorne, A., and Baldy, S.: Fine-scale study of a thick stratospheric ozone lamina at the edge of the southern subtropical barrier: 2. Numerical simulations with coupled dynamics models, J. Geophys. Res., 110, D17101, doi:10.1029/2004JD005737, 2005. Naujokat, B.: An update of the observed quasi-biennial oscillation of the stratospheric winds over the tropics, J. Atmos. Sci., 43, 1873–1877, 1986. Naujokat, B. and Labitzke, K.: Collection of reports on the stratospheric circulation during the winters 1974/75–1991/92, STEP Handbook, July 1993, SCOSTEP Urbana, Illinois, USA, 1993. Naujokat, B., Krüger, K., Matthes, K., Hoffmann, J., Kunze, M., and Labitzke, K.: The early major warming in December 2001 – exceptional?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29, doi:10.1029/2002GL015316, 2002. Nee, J. B., Thulasiraman, S., Chen, W. N., VenkatRatnam, M., and Narayana Rao, D.: Middle atmospheric temperature structure over two tropical locationas, Chung Li (25° N,121° E) and Gadanki (13.5° N,79.2° E), J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phy., 64, 1311–1319, 2002. O'Neill, A. and Taylor, B. F.: Study of the major stratospheric warming of 1976–77, Quart. J. Roy. Meteor. Soc., 105, 75–92, 1979. O'Neill, A.: Stratospheric Sudden Warmings, Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, 1342–1353, 2003. Quiroz, R. S., Miller, A. J., and Nagatani, R. M.: A comparison of observed and simulated properties of sudden stratospheric warmings, J. Atmos. Sci., 32, 1723–1736, 1975. Quiroz, R. S.: The tropospheric-stratospheric polar vortex breakdown of January 1977, Geophys. Res. Lett., 4, 151–154, 1977. Quiroz, R. S.: The association of stratospheric warmings with tropospheric blocking, J. Geophys. Res., 91, 5277–5285, 1986. Randel, W. J. and Boville, B. A.: Observations of Major Stratospheric Warming during December 1964, J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 2179–2186, 1987. Randel, W., Fleming, E., Geller, M., Gelman, M., Hamilton, K., Karoly, D., Ortland, D., Pawson, S., Swinbank, R., Udelhofen, P., Wu, F., Baldwin, M., Chanin, M.-L., Keckhut, P., Labitzke, K., Remsberg, E., Simmons, A., and Wu, D.: The SPARC Intercomparison of Middle Atmosphere Climatologies, WCRP – 116, WMO/TD-No. 1142, SPARC Report No. 3, December, 2002. Roble, R. G. and Dickinson, R. E.: How will changes in carbon dioxide and methane modify the mean structure of the mesosphere and thermosphere?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 16, 1441–1444, 1989. Scherhag, R.: Die explosionsartigen Stratosphärenerwärmungen des Spätwinters 1951/52. Berichte des deutschen Wetterdienstes in der US-Zone, 6, 38, 51–63, 1952. Schoeberl, M. R.: Stratospheric warmings: Observations and theory, Rev. Geophys. Space. Phys., 16, 521–538, 1978. Sivakumar, V., Rao, P. B., and Krishnaiah, M.: Lidar studies of Stratosphere-Mesosphere Thermal Structure over Low Latitude: Comparison with satellite and models, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D11), 4342, doi:10.1029/2002JD003029, 2003. Sivakumar, V., Morel, B., Bencherif, H., Baray, J. L., Baldy, S., Hauchecorne, A., and Rao, P. B.: Rayleigh lidar observation of a warm stratopause over a tropical site, Gadanki (13.5° N; 79.2° E), Atmos. Chem. Phys., 4, 1989–1996, 2004. Sivakumar, V., Bencherif, H., Hauchecorne, A., Keckhut, P., Narayana Rao, D., Sharma, S., Chandra, H., Jayaraman, A., and Rao, P. B.: Rayleigh lidar observations of double stratopause structure over three different northern hemisphere stations, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 6, 6933–6956, 2006. Walterscheid, R. L., Sivjee, G., and Roble, R. G.: Mesospheric and lower thermospheric manifestations of a stratospheric warming event over Eureka, Canada (80° N), Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 2897–2900, 2000. Whiteway, J. A. and Carswell, A. I.: Rayleigh Lidar Observations of Thermal Structure and Gravity Wave Activity in the High Arctic during a Stratospheric Warming, J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3122–3136, 1994. Whiteway, J. A., Duck, T. J., Donovan, D. P., Bird, J. C., Pal., S. R., and Carswell, A. I.: Measurements of gravity wave activity within and around the Arctic stratospheric vortex, Geophys. Res. Lett., 24, 1387–1390, 1997.