Global tropopause altitudes in radiosondes and reanalyses

Xian, Tao; Homeyer, Cameron R.

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5661-2019

Articles | Volume 19, issue 8

Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5661–5678, 2019

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5661-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Special issue: The SPARC Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP) (ACP/ESSD...

Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 5661–5678, 2019

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-5661-2019

© Author(s) 2019. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 19, issue 8

Research article 30 Apr 2019

Research article | 30 Apr 2019

Global tropopause altitudes in radiosondes and reanalyses

Tao Xian and Cameron R. Homeyer

Data sets

European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ERA-Interim https://doi.org/10.5065/D6CR5RD9

Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) Version 2 Durre, I., Xungang, Y., Vose, R. S., Applequist, S., and Arnfield, J. https://doi.org/10.7289/V5X63K0Q

Japan Meteorological Agency/Japan JRA-55 https://doi.org/10.5065/D6HH6H41

3-Hourly, Instantaneous, Model-Level, Assimilation, Assimilated Meteorological Fields V5.12.4 MERRA-2 https://doi.org/10.5067/WWQSXQ8IVFW8

GISS Surface Temperature Analysis (GISTEMP) GISTEMP Team https://doi.org/10.7289/V5W9574V

Short summary

Global characteristics and trends in the tropopause (the boundary between troposphere and stratosphere) over a 35-year period (1981–2015) are evaluated using both observations and models. The use of two coordinate systems reveals previously undiagnosed changes in the tropopause altitude within the tropics and extratropics and these results have important implications for studies of climate and atmospheric composition (especially that related to stratosphere–troposphere exchange).