Equivalent latitude

Abstract: Measurements of stratospheric methane (CH4) and water vapor (H2O) are used to investigate seasonal and interannual variability in stratospheric transport. Data are from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite(UARS) spanning 1991‐97. Profile measurements are binned according to analyzed potential vorticity fields (equivalent latitude mapping), and seasonal cycles are fit using harmonic regression analysis. Methane data from the UARS Cryogenic Limb Array Etalon Spectrometer and water vapor from the Microwave Limb Sounder are also used to fill in winter polar latitudes (where HALOE measurements are unavailable), yielding complete global seasonal cycles. These data reveal well-known seasonal variations with novel detail, including 1) the presence of enhanced latitudinal gradients (mixing barriers) in the subtropics and across the polar vortices, 2) strong descent inside the polar vortices during winter and spring, and 3) vigorous seasonality in the tropical upper stratosphere, related to seasonal upwelling and the semiannual oscillation. The observed variations are in agreement with aspects of the mean meridional circulation derived from stratospheric meteorological analyses. Interannual variations are also investigated, and a majority of the variance is found to be coherent with the equatorial quasibiennial oscillation (QBO). Strong QBO influence is found in the tropical upper stratosphere: the double-peaked ‘‘rabbit ears’’ structure occurs primarily during QBO westerlies. The QBO also modulates the latitudinal position of the tropical ‘‘reservoir’’ in the middle stratosphere.

Abstract: The EU CANDIDOZ project investigated the chemical and dynamical influences on decadal ozone trends focusing on the Northern Hemisphere. High quality long-term ozone data sets, satellite-based as well as ground-based, and the long-term meteorological reanalyses from ECMWF and NCEP are used together with advanced multiple regression models and atmospheric models to assess the relative roles of chemistry and transport in stratospheric ozone changes. This overall synthesis of the individual analyses in CANDIDOZ shows clearly one common feature in the NH mid latitudes and in the Arctic: an almost monotonic negative trend from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s followed by an increase. In most trend studies, the Equivalent Effective Stratospheric Chlorine (EESC) which peaked in 1997 as a consequence of the Montreal Protocol was observed to describe ozone loss better than a simple linear trend. Furthermore, all individual analyses point to changes in dynamical drivers, such as the residual circulation (responsible for the meridional transport of ozone into middle and high latitudes) playing a key role in the observed turnaround. The changes in ozone transport are associated with variations in polar chemical ozone loss via heterogeneous ozone chemistry on PSCs (polar stratospheric clouds). Synoptic scale processes as represented by the new equivalent latitude proxy, by conventional tropopause altitude or by 250 hPa geopotential height have also been successfully linked to the recent ozone increases in the lowermost stratosphere. These show significant regional variation with a large impact over Europe and seem to be linked to changes in tropospheric climate patterns such as the North Atlantic Oscillation. Some influence in recent ozone increases was also attributed to the rise in solar cycle number 23. Changes from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s were found in a number of characteristics of the Arctic vortex. However, only one trend was found when more recent years are also considered, namely the tendency for cold winters to become colder.

Abstract: . The Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) has observed mixing ratios of important trace species in the stratosphere for more than a decade since 1991. Here we present a climatology for the stratosphere compiled from HALOE O3, H2O, CH4, NOx, HCl, and HF data for the period from 1991 to 2002. In this approach, the data are averaged over equivalent latitude instead of latitude in order to correctly reproduce the gradients at the transport barriers like the polar vortex edge. The climatology is compiled for 5 degree equivalent latitude bins. Seasonal dependence is taken into account by choosing intervals of one month. The climatology is available as an electronic supplement.

Abstract: Previous studies of human skin color have shown a strong relationship between skin color and distance from the equator, which has been interpreted as a link between skin color, latitude, and the intensity of ultraviolet radiation. The underlying assumptions are that UV radiation is greatest at the equator and that it diminishes with increasing latitude to the same extent in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The standard analysis of human skin color is based on these assumptions, such that skin color is assumed to be darkest at the equator, and the decrease of skin color with latitude is assumed to be the same in both hemispheres. A nonlinear piecewise regression model was developed to test these assumptions and applied to mean skin reflectance data from 102 male samples and 65 female samples from across the Old World. For both males and females, skin reflectance (%) is lowest at the equator (darkest skin). Among males, skin reflectance increases roughly 8.2% for every 10 degrees of latitude in the Northern Hemisphere but only 3.3% for every 10 degrees of latitude in the Southern Hemisphere. Among females, the corresponding numbers are 8.1% in the Northern Hemisphere and 4.7% in the Southern Hemisphere. These results indicate that human skin color is darker in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere at equivalent latitude. Recent research shows that UV radiation is higher in the Southern Hemisphere than in the Northern Hemisphere at similar latitude. This difference, relating to astronomical and climatic conditions, may have existed in the past at different times and perhaps influenced the evolution of human skin color. Am J Phys Anthropol 104:449–457, 1997. © 1997 Wiley-Liss, Inc.