Stratopause

Abstract: A full description of the ModelE version of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) atmospheric general circulation model (GCM) and results are presented for present-day climate simulations (ca. 1979). This version is a complete rewrite of previous models incorporating numerous improvements in basic physics, the stratospheric circulation, and forcing fields. Notable changes include the following: the model top is now above the stratopause, the number of vertical layers has increased, a new cloud microphysical scheme is used, vegetation biophysics now incorporates a sensitivity to humidity, atmospheric turbulence is calculated over the whole column, and new land snow and lake schemes are introduced. The performance of the model using three configurations with different horizontal and vertical resolutions is compared to quality-controlled in situ data, remotely sensed and reanalysis products. Overall, significant improvements over previous models are seen, particularly in upper-atmosphere te...

Abstract: [1] The dynamical impact of the 11-year solar cycle is investigated with the focus on the stratopause region where solar ultraviolet heating is greatest. The most important variation in solar forcing longer than the diurnal cycle is the annual cycle. Thus the climatological features of the zonal wind variation associated with the annual cycle were first studied to characterize the basic features of the atmosphere's dynamical response to changes in solar radiative forcing. The 11-year solar cycle effect was then investigated. The results of the analysis suggest that in a climatological mean state the stratopause circulation evolves from a radiatively controlled state to one dynamically controlled during winter in both hemispheres. The transition period is characterized by a poleward shift of the westerly jet. The solar cycle effect appears as a change in the balance between the radiatively and dynamically controlled states. The radiatively controlled state lasts longer during the solar maximum phase, and the stratopause subtropical jet reaches a higher speed. The large dynamical response to relatively weak radiative forcing may be understood by the bimodal nature of the winter atmosphere due to interaction with meridionaly propagating planetary waves and zonal mean zonal winds. It is suggested that the solar influence produced in the upper stratosphere and stratopause region is transmitted to the lower stratosphere through (1) modulation of the internal mode of variation in the polar night jet and (2) a change in the Brewer-Dobson circulation. The first process is significant in the middle and high latitudes, whereas the latter is prominent in the equatorial region.

Abstract: The quality of the retrieved temperature-versus-pressure (or T(p)) profiles is described for the middle atmosphere for the publicly available Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) Version 1.07 (V1.07) data set. The primary sources of systematic error for the SABER results below about 70 km are (1) errors in the measured radiances, (2) biases in the forward model, and (3) uncertainties in the corrections for ozone and in the determination of the reference pressure for the retrieved profiles. Comparisons with other correlative data sets indicate that SABER T(p) is too high by 1-3 K in the lower stratosphere but then too low by 1 K near the stratopause and by 2 K in the middle mesosphere. There is little difference between the local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) algorithm results below about 70 km from V1.07 and V1.06, but there are substantial improvements/differences for the non-LTE results of V1.07 for the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere (UMLT) region. In particular, the V1.07 algorithm uses monthly, diurnally averaged CO2 profiles versus latitude from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model. This change has improved the consistency of the character of the tides in its kinetic temperature (T(sub k)). The T(sub k) profiles agree with UMLT values obtained from ground-based measurements of column-averaged OH and O2 emissions and of the Na lidar returns, at least within their mutual uncertainties. SABER T(sub k) values obtained near the mesopause with its daytime algorithm also agree well with the falling sphere climatology at high northern latitudes in summer. It is concluded that the SABER data set can be the basis for improved, diurnal-to-interannual-scale temperatures for the middle atmosphere and especially for its UMLT region.