Articles | Volume 21, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8393-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8393-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
02 Jun 2021
Research article |
| 02 Jun 2021
| 02 Jun 2021
The stratospheric Brewer–Dobson circulation inferred from age of air in the ERA5 reanalysis
Felix Ploeger
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Research, University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany
Mohamadou Diallo
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Edward Charlesworth
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Paul Konopka
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Bernard Legras
Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique, UMR8539, IPSL, UPMC–ENS–CNRS–Ecole Polytechnique, Paris, France
Johannes C. Laube
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Jens-Uwe Grooß
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Gebhard Günther
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
Andreas Engel
Institute for Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, Goethe University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
Martin Riese
Institute for Energy and Climate Research: Stratosphere (IEK–7), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Jülich, Germany
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Bärbel Vogel, C. Michael Volk, Johannes Wintel, Valentin Lauther, Jan Clemens, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Gebhard Günther, Lars Hoffmann, Johannes C. Laube, Rolf Müller, Felix Ploeger, and Fred Stroh
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Paul Konopka, Christian Rolf, Marc von Hobe, Sergey M. Khaykin, Benjamin Clouser, Elisabeth Moyer, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Viciani, Nicole Spelten, Armin Afchine, Martina Krämer, Fred Stroh, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12935–12947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12935-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12935-2023, 2023
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We studied water vapor in a critical region of the atmosphere, the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone, using rare in situ observations. Our study shows that extremely high water vapor values observed in the stratosphere within the Asian monsoon anticyclone still undergo significant freeze-drying and that water vapor concentrations set by the Lagrangian dry point are a better proxy for the stratospheric water vapor budget than rare observations of enhanced water mixing ratios.
Frederik Harzer, Hella Garny, Felix Ploeger, Harald Bönisch, Peter Hoor, and Thomas Birner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10661–10675, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10661-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10661-2023, 2023
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We study the statistical relation between year-by-year fluctuations in winter-mean ozone and the strength of the stratospheric polar vortex. In the latitude–pressure plane, regression analysis shows that anomalously weak polar vortex years are associated with three pronounced local ozone maxima over the polar cap relative to the winter climatology. These response maxima primarily reflect the non-trivial combination of different ozone transport processes with varying relative contributions.
Bernard Legras, Clair Duchamp, Pasquale Sellitto, Aurélien Podglajen, Elisa Carboni, Richard Siddans, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022
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Mohamadou A. Diallo, Felix Ploeger, Michaela I. Hegglin, Manfred Ern, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14303–14321, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14303-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14303-2022, 2022
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Paul Konopka, Mengchu Tao, Marc von Hobe, Lars Hoffmann, Corinna Kloss, Fabrizio Ravegnani, C. Michael Volk, Valentin Lauther, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, and Felix Ploeger
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7471–7487, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7471-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7471-2022, 2022
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Pure trajectory-based transport models driven by meteorology derived from reanalysis products (ERA5) take into account only the resolved, advective part of transport. That means neither mixing processes nor unresolved subgrid-scale advective processes like convection are included. The Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) includes these processes. We show that isentropic mixing dominates unresolved transport. The second most important transport process is unresolved convection.
Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube, Rolf Müller, Stephan Fueglistaler, Michaela I. Hegglin, Johannes C. Laube, C. Michael Volk, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9895–9914, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9895-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9895-2022, 2022
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Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) controls the composition of the stratosphere, which in turn affects radiation and climate. As the BDC cannot be measured directly, it is necessary to infer its strength and trends indirectly. In this study, we test in the
model worlddifferent methods for estimating the mean age of air trends based on a combination of stratospheric water vapour and methane data. We also provide simple practical advice of a more reliable estimation of the mean age of air trends.
Suvarna Fadnavis, Prashant Chavan, Akash Joshi, Sunil M. Sonbawne, Asutosh Acharya, Panuganti C. S. Devara, Alexandru Rap, Felix Ploeger, and Rolf Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7179–7191, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7179-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7179-2022, 2022
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We show that large amounts of anthropogenic aerosols are transported from South Asia to the northern Indian Ocean. These aerosols are then lifted into the UTLS by the ascending branch of the Hadley circulation. They are further transported to the Southern Hemisphere and downward via westerly ducts over the tropical Atlantic and Pacific. These aerosols increase tropospheric heating, resulting in an increase in water vapor, which is then transported to the UTLS.
Felix Ploeger and Hella Garny
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5559–5576, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5559-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5559-2022, 2022
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We investigate hemispheric asymmetries in stratospheric circulation changes in the last 2 decades in model simulations and atmospheric observations. We find that observed trace gas changes can be explained by a structural circulation change related to a deepening circulation in the Northern Hemisphere relative to the Southern Hemisphere. As this asymmetric signal is small compared to internal variability observed circulation trends over the recent past are not in contradiction to climate models.
Jan Clemens, Felix Ploeger, Paul Konopka, Raphael Portmann, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3841–3860, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3841-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3841-2022, 2022
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Highly polluted air flows from the surface to higher levels of the atmosphere during the Asian summer monsoon. At high levels, the air is trapped within eddies. Here, we study how air masses can leave the eddy within its cutoff, how they distribute, and how their chemical composition changes. We found evidence for transport from the eddy to higher latitudes over the North Pacific and even Alaska. During transport, trace gas concentrations within cutoffs changed gradually, showing steady mixing.
Christoph Mahnke, Ralf Weigel, Francesco Cairo, Jean-Paul Vernier, Armin Afchine, Martina Krämer, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Felix Ploeger, Terry Deshler, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15259–15282, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, 2021
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In 2017, in situ aerosol measurements were conducted aboard the M55 Geophysica in the Asian monsoon region. The vertical particle mixing ratio profiles show a distinct layer (15–18.5 km), the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL). The backscatter ratio (BR) was calculated based on the aerosol size distributions and compared with the BRs detected by a backscatter probe and a lidar aboard M55, and by the CALIOP lidar. All four methods show enhanced BRs in the ATAL altitude range (max. at 17.5 km).
Ralf Weigel, Christoph Mahnke, Manuel Baumgartner, Antonis Dragoneas, Bärbel Vogel, Felix Ploeger, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Beiping Luo, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11689–11722, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, 2021
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In July and August 2017, eight StratoClim mission flights of the Geophysica reached up to 20 km in the Asian monsoon anticyclone. New particle formation (NPF) was identified in situ by abundant nucleation-mode aerosols (6–15 nm in diameter) with mixing ratios of up to 50 000 mg−1. NPF occurred most frequently at 12–16 km with fractions of non-volatile residues of down to 15 %. Abundance and productivity of observed NPF indicate its ability to promote the Asian tropopause aerosol layer.
Lukas Krasauskas, Jörn Ungermann, Peter Preusse, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Andreas Zahn, Helmut Ziereis, Christian Rolf, Felix Plöger, Paul Konopka, Bärbel Vogel, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10249–10272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10249-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10249-2021, 2021
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A Rossby wave (RW) breaking event was observed over the North Atlantic during the WISE measurement campaign in October 2017. Infrared limb sounding measurements of trace gases in the lower stratosphere, including high-resolution 3-D tomographic reconstruction, revealed complex spatial structures in stratospheric tracers near the polar jet related to previous RW breaking events. Backward-trajectory analysis and tracer correlations were used to study mixing and stratosphere–troposphere exchange.
Nuria Pilar Plaza, Aurélien Podglajen, Cristina Peña-Ortiz, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9585–9607, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9585-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9585-2021, 2021
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We study the role of different processes in setting the lower stratospheric water vapour. We find that mechanisms involving ice microphysics and small-scale mixing produce the strongest increase in water vapour, in particular over the Asian Monsoon. Small-scale mixing has a special relevance as it improves the agreement with observations at seasonal and intra-seasonal timescales, contrary to the North American Monsoon case, in which large-scale temperatures still dominate its variability.
Mohamadou Diallo, Manfred Ern, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7515–7544, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7515-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7515-2021, 2021
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Despite good agreement in the spatial structure, there are substantial differences in the strength of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) and its modulations in the UTLS and upper stratosphere. The tropical upwelling is generally weaker in ERA5 than in ERAI due to weaker planetary and gravity wave breaking in the UTLS. Analysis of the BDC trend shows an acceleration of the BDC of about 1.5 % decade-1 due to the long-term intensification in wave breaking, consistent with climate predictions.
Xiaolu Yan, Paul Konopka, Marius Hauck, Aurélien Podglajen, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6627–6645, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6627-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6627-2021, 2021
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Inter-hemispheric transport is important for understanding atmospheric tracers because of the asymmetry in emissions between the Southern Hemisphere (SH) and Northern Hemisphere (NH). This study finds that the air masses from the NH extratropics to the atmosphere are about 5 times larger than those from the SH extratropics. The interplay between the Asian summer monsoon and westerly ducts triggers the cross-Equator transport from the NH to the SH in boreal summer and fall.
Fatih Ekinci, Oliver Eppers, Oliver Appel, Felix Ploeger, Antonis Dragoneas, Sergej Molleker, Philipp Brauner, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Franziska Weyland, Linda Ort, Nicolas Emig, Hans-Christian Clemen, Laura Tomsche, Martin Ebert, Peter Hoor, Bärbel Vogel, Yafang Cheng, Johannes Schneider, Stephan Borrmann, and Franziska Köllner
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-998, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-998, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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This study shows that aerosol transported from the Asian summer monsoon region can substantially alter the background composition of the extratropical lower stratosphere. Aircraft-based measurements and model simulations reveal a strong increase of ammonium nitrate aerosol from summer to autumn 2023 caused by transport of young air masses from South and East Asia. These particles can persist for months and undergo chemical aging.
Clair Duchamp, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, Pasquale Sellitto, Adam E. Bourassa, Alexei Rozanov, Ghassan Taha, and Daniel J. Zawada
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 19, 1675–1696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-1675-2026, 2026
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We analyzed the stratospheric aerosol plume from the 2022 Hunga eruption using satellite lidar data. We implemented a method to retrieve some aerosol properties, as standard products failed in this case. We found very high optical depth values in the days following the eruption, which decreased rapidly but remained elevated for months. Our results are broadly validated, though some satellite products underestimate the values due, in part, to the unusual aerosol size distribution in the plume.
Jan Kaumanns, Jörn Ungermann, Bärbel Vogel, Sören Johansson, Erik Kretschmer, Felix Plöger, Peter Preuße, Wolfgang Woiwode, and Martin Riese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-650, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-650, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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During the PHILEAS aircraft campaign a self-matching experiment was conducted to study the mixing of Asian Summer monsoon air into the UTLS. We present the first 3-D tomographic observations of this mixing for multiple trace gas species. We use advanced clustering to identify the types of air and their transport pathways. Simulations of surface-origin tracers link several of these air types to different source regions. This study shows how pollutants of the monsoon enter the stratosphere.
Sean Davis, William Ball, Yue Jia, Gabriel Chiodo, Justin Alsing, James Keeble, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Carlo Arosio, Ewa Bednarz, Andreas Chrysanthou, Melanie Coldewey-Egbers, Robert Damadeo, Sandip Dhomse, Mohamadou Diallo, Simone Dietmuller, Roland Eichinger, Stacey Frith, Birgit Hassler, Michaela Hegglin, Daan Hubert, Patrick Jöckel, Béatrice Josse, Natalya Kramarova, Diego Loyola, Eliane Maillard Barras, Marion Marchand, Olaf Morgenstern, David Plummer, Robert Portmann, Karen Rosenlof, Alexei Rozanov, Viktoria Sofieva, Johannes Staehelin, Timofei Sukhodolov, Kleareti Tourpali, Ronald Van der A, H. J. Ray Wang, Krzysztof Wargan, Shingo Watanabe, Mark Weber, Jeannette Wild, Yousuke Yamashita, and Jerry Ziemke
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-532, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-532, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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This study investigates how tropical ozone levels have changed since 2000 in chemistry climate models and satellite observations to determine how well they agree with one another, and to see if current trends can help predict future levels. At some, satellite records disagree significantly on the magnitude of ozone changes. The study shows a connection between recent ozone trends and future ozone levels, suggesting that satellite measurements could help constrain future ozone changes.
Hélène De Longueville, Daniela B. Melo, Alison Redington, Alice Ramsden, Alexandre Danjou, Peter Andrews, Joseph Pitt, Brendan Murphy, Lionel Constantin, Kieran M. Stanley, Simon O'Doherty, Angelina Wenger, Dickon Young, Andreas Engel, Tanja Schuck, Katharina Meixner, Thomas Wagenhaeuser, Fides Gad, Martin K. Vollmer, Stefan Reimann, Michela Maoine, Jgor Arduini, Chris Lunder, Norbert Schmidtbauer, László Haszpra, Mihály Molnár, Arnoud Frumau, Cedric Couret, Matthew Rigby, Stephan Henne, Alistair Manning, and Anita Ganesan
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-194, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-194, 2026
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This study estimates emissions of hydrofluorocarbons, important greenhouse gases, in north-western Europe using atmospheric observations and atmospheric modelling. The estimates are compared with nationally reported emissions submitted to the United Nations. Overall, our results are consistent with reported values, although differences are found for some gases and countries. The findings indicate that emissions in north-western Europe are declining, reflecting the effects of climate regulations.
Benjamin Püschel, Martin Vojta, Luise Kandler, Molly Crotwell, Andreas Engel, Paul B. Krummel, Chris R. Lunder, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Ronald G. Prinn, Kieran M. Stanley, Isaac Vimont, Martin K. Vollmer, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Ray F. Weiss, Dickon Young, and Andreas Stohl
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5656, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5656, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
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We present global and regionally resolved emissions of the two highly potent greenhouse gases CF4 and C2F6 from 2006 to 2023, based on atmospheric measurements and transport modeling. In nearly all regions studied, our results show that national reports and industry-based data underestimate emissions. While emissions in Europe and the U.S. declined, we find rising emissions in South, Southeast, and East Asia. China and India are the major contributors to global emissions in recent years.
Paul Konopka, Felix Ploeger, Francesco D'Amato, Teresa Campos, Marc von Hobe, Shawn B. Honomichl, Peter Hoor, Laura L. Pan, Michelle L. Santee, Silvia Viciani, Kaley A. Walker, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 17973–17996, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17973-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17973-2025, 2025
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We present an improved version of the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS-3.0), which better represents transport from the lower atmosphere to the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. By refining grid resolution and improving convection representation, the model more accurately simulates carbon monoxide transport. Comparisons with satellite and in situ observations highlight its ability to capture seasonal variations and improve our understanding of atmospheric transport.
Jingyu Wang, Gabriel Chiodo, Blanca Ayarzagüena, William T. Ball, Mohamadou Diallo, Birgit Hassler, James Keeble, Peer Nowack, Clara Orbe, Sandro Vattioni, and Timofei Sukhodolov
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 17819–17844, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17819-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17819-2025, 2025
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We analyzed the ozone response under elevated CO2 using the data from CMIP6 DECK experiments. We then examined the relations between ozone response and changes in temperature and circulation to identify the drivers of ozone change. The climate feedback of ozone is investigated through offline calculations and by comparing models with and without interactive chemistry. We find that ozone–climate interactions are important for Earth system models and thus should be considered in future model development.
Redha Belhadji, Pasquale Sellitto, Maxim Eremenko, Silvia Bucci, Tran M. Nguyet, Martin Schwell, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 7465–7476, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7465-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-7465-2025, 2025
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The 2019–2020 Australian wildfires triggered massive Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds, injecting smoke aerosols into the stratosphere and forming a self-sustaining vortex that reached 35 km altitude. This vortex created a transient ozone mini-hole. Using satellite and ground-based observations, we tracked a 30–40 % initial ozone depletion, which decayed to ~7 % within a month. These findings highlight the impact of extreme wildfires on stratospheric dynamics and ozone composition.
Luke M. Western, Stephen Bourguet, Molly Crotwell, Lei Hu, Paul B. Krummel, Hélène De Longueville, Alistair J. Manning, Jens Mühle, Dominique Rust, Isaac Vimont, Martin K. Vollmer, Minde An, Jgor Arduini, Andreas Engel, Paul J. Fraser, Anita L. Ganesan, Christina M. Harth, Chris Lunder, Michela Maione, Stephen A. Montzka, David Nance, Simon O'Doherty, Sunyoung Park, Stefan Reimann, Peter K. Salameh, Roland Schmidt, Kieran M. Stanley, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Dickon Young, Matt Rigby, Ronald G. Prinn, and Ray F. Weiss
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 17761–17778, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17761-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-17761-2025, 2025
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We used atmospheric measurements to estimate emissions of two hydrochlorofluorocarbon (HCFC) gases, called HCFC-123 and HCFC-124, that harm the ozone layer. Despite international regulation to stop their production, their emissions have not fallen. This may be linked to how they are used to make other chemicals. Our findings show that some banned substances are still reaching the atmosphere, likely through leaks during chemical production, which could slow the recovery of the ozone layer.
Bärbel Vogel, Valentin Lauther, Franziska Köllner, Fatih Ekinci, Christian Rolf, Johannes Strobel, Ronja van Luijt, Michael C. Volk, Stephan Borrmann, Antonis Dragoneas, Oliver Eppers, Sergej Molleker, Peter Hoor, Linda Ort, Franziska Weyland, Andreas Zahn, Jan Clemens, Gebhard Günther, Oleh Kachula, Rolf Müller, Felix Ploeger, and Martin Riese
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5609, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5609, 2025
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This work highlights the impact of the Asian summer monsoon on the chemical composition of the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Measurements of trace gases and aerosol particles uplifted by the Asian summer monsoon to higher altitudes are sparse. Here, we had the opportunity to use a whole suite of different measured trace gases and the chemical composition of aerosols, in combination with simulations, to better understand the complex transport and mixing processes in this region.
Johannes Degen, Bianca C. Baier, Patrick Jöckel, J. Moritz Menken, Tanja J. Schuck, Colm Sweeney, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15741–15763, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15741-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15741-2025, 2025
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We investigate the distribution of CO2 in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere using both, observations and an atmospheric model. Simulating an artificial tracer, we separate CO2 seasonality from long-term trend and transport variability. We found that patterns in the seasonal signal are attributable to large-scale transport features like the subtropical jet or the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Being a powerful diagnostic tool we recommend to use this tracer for model intercomparisons.
Oleh Kachula, Bärbel Vogel, Gebhard Günther, and Rolf Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 15171–15195, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15171-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-15171-2025, 2025
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We propose a novel method to define the boundary of the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone (ASMA) and provide the inter-annual and intra-seasonal analyses based on 44 years (1980–2023) and highlight individual years – 2017, 2022 and 2023 during which aircraft campaigns StratoClim, ACCLIP and PHILEAS took place respectively. Our method shows consistent results with previous studies but also provide new information about possible bimodality of the ASMA and inter-annual decrease of the ASMA area.
Hongyue Wang, Mijeong Park, Mengchu Tao, Cristina Peña-Ortiz, Nuria P. Plaza-Martin, Felix Ploeger, and Paul Konopka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 14703–14718, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14703-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14703-2025, 2025
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We investigate how water vapor in the upper atmosphere gains moisture during the Asian and North American monsoons using a simplified modeling approach. Our results show that the Asian monsoon is mainly controlled by large-scale temperature, whereas the North American monsoon may be more influenced by convective moistening. These differences point to distinct mechanisms shaping moisture transport in the two monsoon systems.
Frederik Harzer, Hella Garny, Felix Ploeger, J. Moritz Menken, and Thomas Birner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 14909–14921, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14909-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14909-2025, 2025
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We study ozone transport in the extratropical lowermost stratosphere using potential temperature as vertical coordinate, thereby distinguishing adiabatic and diabatic processes. We find that on top of known dominant transport processes (quasi-horizontal mixing, slow diabatic descent) vertical mixing plays an important role near the tropopause. Our findings are relevant for understanding ozone's role in climate including its imprint on tropospheric ozone via stratosphere-troposphere air exchange.
Sophie Bauchinger, Andreas Engel, Markus Jesswein, Timo Keber, Harald Bönisch, Florian Obersteiner, Andreas Zahn, Nicolas Emig, Peter Hoor, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Franziska Weyland, Linda Ort, and Tanja J. Schuck
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 14167–14186, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14167-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-14167-2025, 2025
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We compared different ways to define the upper barrier of the troposphere in the extra-tropics, the “tropopause”. By analysing ozone distributions sorted by different definitions, we found that the traditional temperature-based tropopause works less well than dynamic or tracer-based definitions. We saw a sharper transition of ozone across the tropopause using a higher value of potential vorticity than often used and recommend this value for future studies of exchange processes in this region.
Gerald Wetzel, Anne Kleinert, Sören Johansson, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Michael Höpfner, Jörn Ungermann, Tom Neubert, Valéry Catoire, Cyril Crevoisier, Andreas Engel, Thomas Gulde, Patrick Jacquet, Oliver Kirner, Erik Kretschmer, Thomas Kulessa, Johannes C. Laube, Guido Maucher, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Peter Preusse, Markus Retzlaff, Georg Schardt, Johan Schillings, Herbert Schneider, Axel Schönfeld, Tanja Schuck, Wolfgang Woiwode, Martin Riese, and Peter Braesicke
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 5873–5894, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5873-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-5873-2025, 2025
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We present vertical trace gas profiles from the first balloon flight of the newly developed GLORIA-B limb-imaging Fourier-Transform spectrometer. Longer-lived gases are compared to external measurements to assess the quality of the GLORIA-B observations. Diurnal changes of photochemically active species are compared to model simulations. GLORIA-B demonstrates the capability of balloon-borne limb imaging to provide high-resolution vertical profiles of trace gases up to the middle stratosphere.
Zhen Yang, Bärbel Vogel, Felix Plöger, Zhixuan Bai, Dan Li, Sabine Griessbach, Lars Hoffmann, Frank G. Wienhold, Elizabeth Asher, Alexandre A. Baron, Katie R. Smith, Troy Thornberry, Jianchun Bian, and Michaela I. Hegglin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4842, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4842, 2025
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Night-time balloon profiles over Lhasa, combined with satellite-constrained modeling, tracked the 2019 Raikoke volcano’s aerosol plumes through the Asian summer monsoon. We find two altitude-separated routes into the anticyclone. The monsoon partly blocks transport but permits entrainment and internal mixing, explaining gradual dilution. Matching the observations required stronger subgrid mixing, and the plume likely rose ~4–5 km from radiative heating.
Elinor Tuffnell, Emma Leedham-Elvidge, William Sturges, Harald Bönisch, Karina Adcock, Paul Fraser, Paul Krummel, David Oram, Ray Langenfelds, Thomas Röckmann, Luke Western, Jens Mühle, and Johannes Laube
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4941, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4941, 2025
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The greater the stratospheric lifetime of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), the longer they will deplete ozone. This paper investigates four longer-lived CFCs, and discovers two of them have much shorter lifetimes than previously believed. Demonstrating emissions of these compounds are higher than assumed, to account for their abundance. Unusually this paper uses stratospheric whole-air samples, rather than models or lab-based experiments, to derive policy-relevant metrics for these compounds.
Rasul Baikhadzhaev, Felix Ploeger, Peter Preusse, Manfred Ern, and Thomas Birner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 12753–12777, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12753-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12753-2025, 2025
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Across four reanalyses, the shallow branch of the stratospheric overturning circulation was found to be driven by planetary waves 1 to 3, and the deep branch of the circulation was found to be driven by smaller-scale waves (wave 4 and higher). However, the height of the level separating the branches is dependent on the reanalysis considered. Thus, using the appropriate separation levels in model inter-comparisons could reduce the spread between models regarding climatology and trends in the circulation.
Toyese Tunde Ayorinde, Cristiano Max Wrasse, Hisao Takahashi, Luiz Fernando Sapucci, Mohamadou A. Diallo, Cosme Alexandre Oliveira Barros Figueiredo, Diego Barros, Ligia Alves da Silva, Patrick Essien, and Anderson Vestena Bilibio
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 12357–12378, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12357-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-12357-2025, 2025
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We studied how the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) interacts with atmospheric gravity waves high in the sky and how global climate patterns like El Niño affect them. Using RO, ERA5, and NCEP reanalysis data, we found that the ITCZ shifts with season but stays strong year-round, influencing weather and energy flow. Our findings show how climate patterns shape weather systems and help predict changes, improving understanding of the atmosphere and its effects on global climate.
Martin K. Vollmer, Joseph R. Pitt, Dickon Young, Stephan Henne, Blagoj Mitrevski, Jens Mühle, Anita Ganesan, Jgor Arduini, Alistair J. Manning, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Alison L. Redington, Brendan Murphy, Ray Gluckmann, Kieran M. Stanley, Paul B. Krummel, Chris R. Lunder, Jaegeun Yun, Dominique Rust, Angelina Wenger, Myriam Guillevic, Jooil Kim, Ray H. J. Wang, Tae Siek Rhee, Lionel Constantin, Arnoud Frumau, Christina M. Harth, Peter K. Salameh, Ove Hermansen, Andreas Engel, Simon O'Doherty, Sunyoung Park, Michela Maione, Paul J. Fraser, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, and Stefan Reimann
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4824, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-4824, 2025
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We provide atmospheric measurements of halogenated olefins from the Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiments and we calculate NorthWest European Emissions.
Shenglong Zhang, Jiao Chen, Jonathon S. Wright, Sean M. Davis, Jie Gao, Paul Konopka, Ninghui Li, Mengqian Lu, Susann Tegtmeier, Xiaolu Yan, Guang J. Zhang, and Nuanliang Zhu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 10109–10139, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10109-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-10109-2025, 2025
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Swirling above summer storms, the Asian monsoon anticyclone functions as both gateway and gatekeeper to moisture entering the stratosphere. Although well monitored from space since 2005, many details of the anticyclone and the air that flows through it remain mysterious. Reanalyses, which combine model output and observations, may help to address how and why but only if they reliably capture the what and where of water vapor variations. Current reanalyses are beginning to meet these criteria.
Jonathon S. Wright, Shenglong Zhang, Jiao Chen, Sean M. Davis, Paul Konopka, Mengqian Lu, Xiaolu Yan, and Guang J. Zhang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 9617–9643, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9617-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9617-2025, 2025
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Atmospheric reanalysis products reconstruct past states of the atmosphere. These products are often used to study winds and temperatures in the upper-level monsoon circulation, but their ability to reproduce composition fields like water vapor and ozone has been questionable at best. Here we report clear signs of improvement in both consistency across reanalyses and agreement with satellite observations, outline limitations, and suggest steps to further enhance the usefulness of these fields.
Johannes C. Laube, Tanja J. Schuck, Sophie Baartman, Huilin Chen, Markus Geldenhuys, Steven van Heuven, Timo Keber, Maria Elena Popa, Elinor Tuffnell, Florian Voet, Bärbel Vogel, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Alessandro Zanchetta, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 18, 4087–4102, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-4087-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-18-4087-2025, 2025
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A large balloon was launched in summer 2021 in the Arctic to carry instruments for trace gas measurements up to 32 km, above the reach of aircraft. The main aims were to evaluate different techniques and atmospheric processes. We focus on halogenated greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. For this, air was collected with the AirCore technique and a cryogenic air sampler and measured after the flight. A companion paper reports observations of major greenhouse gases.
Markus Jesswein, Valentin Lauther, Nicolas Emig, Peter Hoor, Timo Keber, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Linda Ort, Tanja Schuck, Johannes Strobel, Ronja Van Luijt, C. Michael Volk, Franziska Weyland, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 8107–8126, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8107-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-8107-2025, 2025
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The study investigates transport within the Asian Summer Monsoon, focusing on how CH2Cl2 reaches the subarctic tropopause region. Using data from the PHILEAS campaign in 2023, events with increased mixing ratios were detected. Their origin, the transport paths to the tropopause region, and the potential entry into the stratosphere were analyzed. The East Asian Summer Monsoon was identified as the main transport pathway, with only a small contribution to the stratosphere in the following days.
Corinna Kloss, Gwenaël Berthet, Pasquale Sellitto, Irene Bartolome Garcia, Emmanuel Briaud, Rubel Chandra Das, Stéphane Chevrier, Nicolas Dumelié, Lilian Joly, Thomas Lecas, Pauline Marbach, Felix Ploeger, Jean-Baptiste Renard, Jean-Paul Vernier, Frank G. Wienhold, and Michaela I. Hegglin
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2091, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2091, 2025
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In October 2022, we detected volcanic particles in the stratosphere over France, linked to the January 2022 Hunga eruption in the South Pacific. Found between 17 and 23 km altitude, they were traced back to the tropics using trajectory simulations and satellite data. Their optical properties matched those in the Southern Hemisphere. The particles spread across the Northern Hemisphere, reflecting sunlight and slightly cooling the surface—a small but non-negligible effect.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, and Clair Duchamp
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 6353–6364, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-6353-2025, 2025
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The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted on 15 January 2022, producing the largest stratospheric aerosol perturbation of the last 30 years. Stratospheric volcanic aerosols usually produce a transient climate cooling; these impacts depend on volcanic aerosol composition/size, due to size-dependent interactions with solar/terrestrial radiation. We demonstrate that the Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha’apai stratospheric aerosols have a larger cooling potential per unit mass than the past climate-relevant El Chichón (1984) and Pinatubo (1991) eruptions.
Mingzhao Liu, Lars Hoffmann, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Zhongyin Cai, Sabine Grießbach, and Yi Heng
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4403–4418, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4403-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4403-2025, 2025
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We studied the transport and chemical decomposition of volcanic SO2, focusing on the 2019 Raikoke event. By comparing two different chemistry modeling schemes, we found that including complex chemical reactions leads to a more accurate prediction of how long SO2 stays in the atmosphere. This research helps improve our understanding of volcanic pollution and its impact on air quality and climate, providing better tools for scientists to track and predict the movement of these pollutants.
Tanja J. Schuck, Johannes Degen, Timo Keber, Katharina Meixner, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Mélanie Ghysels, Georges Durry, Nadir Amarouche, Alessandro Zanchetta, Steven van Heuven, Huilin Chen, Johannes C. Laube, Sophie L. Baartman, Carina van der Veen, Maria Elena Popa, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4333–4348, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4333-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4333-2025, 2025
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A balloon was launched in 2021 in the Arctic to carry instruments for trace gas measurements up to 32 km. One purpose was to compare measurement techniques. We focus on the major greenhouse gases. To measure these, air was sampled with the AirCore technique and with flask sampling, and samples were analysed after the flight. In flight, observations were done with an optical method. In a companion paper, we report on observations of chlorine and bromine containing trace gases.
Laura N. Saunders, Kaley A. Walker, Gabriele P. Stiller, Thomas von Clarmann, Florian Haenel, Hella Garny, Harald Bönisch, Chris D. Boone, Ariana E. Castillo, Andreas Engel, Johannes C. Laube, Marianna Linz, Felix Ploeger, David A. Plummer, Eric A. Ray, and Patrick E. Sheese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 4185–4209, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4185-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-4185-2025, 2025
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We present a 17-year stratospheric age-of-air dataset derived from ACE-FTS satellite measurements of sulfur hexafluoride. This is the longest continuous, global, and vertically resolved age of air time series available to date. In this paper, we show that this dataset agrees well with age-of-air datasets based on measurements from other instruments. We also present trends in the midlatitude lower stratosphere that indicate changes in the global circulation that are predicted by climate models.
Florian Voet, Felix Ploeger, Johannes Laube, Peter Preusse, Paul Konopka, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jörn Ungermann, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Michael Höpfner, Bernd Funke, Gerald Wetzel, Sören Johansson, Gabriele Stiller, Eric Ray, and Michaela I. Hegglin
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 3541–3565, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3541-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-3541-2025, 2025
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This study refines estimates of the stratospheric “age of air”, a measure of how long air circulates in the stratosphere. By analyzing correlations between trace gases measurable by satellites, the research introduces a method that reduces uncertainties and detects small-scale atmospheric features. This improved understanding of stratospheric circulation is crucial for better climate models and predictions, enhancing our ability to assess the impacts of climate change on the atmosphere.
Kimberlee Dubé, Susann Tegtmeier, Felix Ploeger, and Kaley A. Walker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1433–1447, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1433-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1433-2025, 2025
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The transport rate of air in the stratosphere has changed in response to human emissions of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. This transport rate can be approximated using measurements of long-lived trace gases. We use observations and model results to derive anomalies and trends in the mean rate of stratospheric air transport. We find that air in the Northern Hemisphere aged by up to 0.3 years per decade relative to air in the Southern Hemisphere over 2004–2017.
Xiaolu Yan, Paul Konopka, Felix Ploeger, and Aurélien Podglajen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1289–1305, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1289-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1289-2025, 2025
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Our study finds that the air mass fractions (AMFs) from the Asian boundary layer (ABL) to the polar regions are about 1.5 times larger than those from the same latitude band in the Southern Hemisphere. The transport of AMFs from the ABL to the polar vortex primarily occurs above 20 km and over timescales exceeding 2 years. Our analysis reveals a strong correlation between the polar pollutants and the AMFs from the ABL. About 20 % of SF6 in the polar stratosphere originates from the ABL.
Franziska Weyland, Peter Hoor, Daniel Kunkel, Thomas Birner, Felix Plöger, and Katharina Turhal
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 1227–1252, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1227-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-1227-2025, 2025
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The lowermost stratosphere (LMS) plays an important role in the Earth's climate, containing strong gradients of ozone and water vapor. Our results indicate that the thermodynamic structure of the LMS was changing between 1979–2019 in response to anthropogenic climate change and the recovery of stratospheric ozone, also indicating large-scale circulation changes. We find that both the upper and the lower LMS boundaries show an (upward) trend, which has implications for the LMS mass.
Katharina Turhal, Felix Plöger, Jan Clemens, Thomas Birner, Franziska Weyland, Paul Konopka, and Peter Hoor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 13653–13679, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13653-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-13653-2024, 2024
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The tropopause separates the troposphere, where many greenhouse gases originate, from the stratosphere. This study examines a tropopause defined by potential vorticity – an analogue for angular momentum that changes sharply in the subtropics, creating a transport barrier. Between 1980 and 2017, this tropopause shifted poleward at lower altitudes and equatorward above, suggesting height-dependent changes in atmospheric circulation that may affect greenhouse gas distribution and global warming.
Yiran Zhang-Liu, Rolf Müller, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sabine Robrecht, Bärbel Vogel, Abdul Mannan Zafar, and Ralph Lehmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 12557–12574, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12557-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-12557-2024, 2024
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HCl null cycles in Antarctica are important for maintaining high values of ozone-destroying chlorine in Antarctic spring. These HCl null cycles are not affected by (1) using the most recent recommendations of chemical kinetics (compared to older recommendations), (2) accounting for dehydration in the Antarctic winter vortex, and (3) considering the observed (but unexplained) depletion of HCl in mid-winter in the Antarctic vortex throughout Antarctic winter.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Inna Polichtchouk, Kaoru Sato, Shingo Watanabe, Manfred Ern, Karlheinz Nogai, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 5785–5819, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-5785-2024, 2024
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We investigate the capabilities of a proposed satellite mission, CAIRT, for observing gravity waves throughout the middle atmosphere and present the necessary methodology for in-depth wave analysis. Our findings suggest that such a satellite mission is highly capable of resolving individual wave parameters and could give new insights into the role of gravity waves in general atmospheric circulation and atmospheric processes.
Sören Johansson, Michael Höpfner, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Thomas Gulde, Vincent Huijnen, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Tom Neubert, Hans Nordmeyer, Christof Piesch, Peter Preusse, Martin Riese, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Jörn Ungermann, Gerald Wetzel, and Wolfgang Woiwode
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 8125–8138, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-8125-2024, 2024
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We present airborne infrared limb sounding GLORIA measurements of ammonia (NH3) in the upper troposphere of air masses within the Asian monsoon and of those connected with biomass burning. Comparing CAMS (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) model data, we find that the model reproduces the measured enhanced NH3 within the Asian monsoon well but not that within biomass burning plumes, where no enhanced NH3 is measured in the upper troposphere but considerable amounts are simulated by CAMS.
Cristina Peña-Ortiz, Nuria Pilar Plaza, David Gallego, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5457–5478, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5457-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5457-2024, 2024
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Although water vapour (H2O) in the lower stratosphere is only a few molecules among 1 million air molecules, atmospheric radiative forcing and surface temperature are sensitive to changes in its concentration. Monsoon regions play a key role in H2O transport and its concentration in the lower stratosphere. We show how the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) has a major impact on H2O over the Asian monsoon during August through changes in temperature caused by QBO modulation of tropical clouds.
Felicia Kolonjari, Patrick E. Sheese, Kaley A. Walker, Chris D. Boone, David A. Plummer, Andreas Engel, Stephen A. Montzka, David E. Oram, Tanja Schuck, Gabriele P. Stiller, and Geoffrey C. Toon
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 2429–2449, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-2429-2024, 2024
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The Canadian Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment Fourier transform spectrometer (ACE-FTS) satellite instrument is currently providing the only vertically resolved chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) measurements from space. This study assesses the most current ACE-FTS HCFC-22 data product in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, as well as modelled HCFC-22 from a 39-year run of the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (CMAM39) in the same region.
Martin Ebert, Ralf Weigel, Stephan Weinbruch, Lisa Schneider, Konrad Kandler, Stefan Lauterbach, Franziska Köllner, Felix Plöger, Gebhard Günther, Bärbel Vogel, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4771–4788, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4771-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4771-2024, 2024
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Particles were collected during the flight campaign StratoClim 2017 within the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL). Refractory particles from seven different flights were characterized by scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM). The most abundant refractory particles are silicates and non-volatile organics. The most important sources are combustion processes at the ground and the agitation of soil material. During one flight, small cinnabar particles (HgS) were also detected.
Hella Garny, Roland Eichinger, Johannes C. Laube, Eric A. Ray, Gabriele P. Stiller, Harald Bönisch, Laura Saunders, and Marianna Linz
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4193–4215, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4193-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4193-2024, 2024
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Transport circulation in the stratosphere is important for the distribution of tracers, but its strength is hard to measure. Mean transport times can be inferred from observations of trace gases with certain properties, such as sulfur hexafluoride (SF6). However, this gas has a chemical sink in the high atmosphere, which can lead to substantial biases in inferred transport times. In this paper we present a method to correct mean transport times derived from SF6 for the effects of chemical sinks.
Felix Ploeger, Thomas Birner, Edward Charlesworth, Paul Konopka, and Rolf Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2033–2043, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2033-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2033-2024, 2024
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We present a novel mechanism of how regional anomalies in water vapour concentrations in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere impact regional atmospheric circulation systems. These impacts include a displaced upper-level Asian monsoon circulation and strengthened prevailing westerlies in the Pacific region. Current climate models have biases in simulating these regional water vapour anomalies and circulation impacts, but the biases can be avoided by improving the model transport.
Jan Clemens, Bärbel Vogel, Lars Hoffmann, Sabine Griessbach, Nicole Thomas, Suvarna Fadnavis, Rolf Müller, Thomas Peter, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 763–787, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-763-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-763-2024, 2024
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The source regions of the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL) are debated. We use balloon-borne measurements of the layer above Nainital (India) in August 2016 and atmospheric transport models to find ATAL source regions. Most air originated from the Tibetan plateau. However, the measured ATAL was stronger when more air originated from the Indo-Gangetic Plain and weaker when more air originated from the Pacific. Hence, the results indicate important anthropogenic contributions to the ATAL.
Tanja J. Schuck, Johannes Degen, Eric Hintsa, Peter Hoor, Markus Jesswein, Timo Keber, Daniel Kunkel, Fred Moore, Florian Obersteiner, Matt Rigby, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Luke M. Western, Andreas Zahn, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 689–705, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-689-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-689-2024, 2024
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We study the interhemispheric gradient of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), a strong long-lived greenhouse gas. Its emissions are stronger in the Northern Hemisphere; therefore, mixing ratios in the Southern Hemisphere lag behind. Comparing the observations to a box model, the model predicts air in the Southern Hemisphere to be older. For a better agreement, the emissions used as model input need to be increased (and their spatial pattern changed), and we need to modify north–south transport.
Bärbel Vogel, C. Michael Volk, Johannes Wintel, Valentin Lauther, Jan Clemens, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Gebhard Günther, Lars Hoffmann, Johannes C. Laube, Rolf Müller, Felix Ploeger, and Fred Stroh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 317–343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-317-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-317-2024, 2024
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Over the Indian subcontinent, polluted air is rapidly uplifted to higher altitudes during the Asian monsoon season. We present an assessment of vertical transport in this region using different wind data provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), as well as high-resolution aircraft measurements. In general, our findings confirm that the newest ECMWF reanalysis product, ERA5, yields a better representation of transport compared to the predecessor, ERA-Interim.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Juan Cuesta, Aurélien Podglajen, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15523–15535, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15523-2023, 2023
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Record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season 2019–2020. These fires injected a smoke plume in the stratosphere, which dispersed over the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar and terrestrial radiation. A number of detached smoke bubbles were also observed emanating from this plume and ascending quickly to over 35 km altitude. Here we study how absorption of radiation generated ascending motion of both the the hemispheric plume and the vortices.
Konstantin Ntokas, Jörn Ungermann, Martin Kaufmann, Tom Neubert, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 16, 5681–5696, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5681-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-5681-2023, 2023
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A nanosatellite was developed to obtain 1-D vertical temperature profiles in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, which can be used to derive wave parameters needed for atmospheric models. A new processing method is shown, which allows one to extract two 1-D temperature profiles. The location of the two profiles is analyzed, as it is needed for deriving wave parameters. We show that this method is feasible, which however will increase the requirements of an accurate calibration and processing.
Paul Konopka, Christian Rolf, Marc von Hobe, Sergey M. Khaykin, Benjamin Clouser, Elisabeth Moyer, Fabrizio Ravegnani, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Viciani, Nicole Spelten, Armin Afchine, Martina Krämer, Fred Stroh, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12935–12947, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12935-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12935-2023, 2023
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We studied water vapor in a critical region of the atmosphere, the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone, using rare in situ observations. Our study shows that extremely high water vapor values observed in the stratosphere within the Asian monsoon anticyclone still undergo significant freeze-drying and that water vapor concentrations set by the Lagrangian dry point are a better proxy for the stratospheric water vapor budget than rare observations of enhanced water mixing ratios.
Frederik Harzer, Hella Garny, Felix Ploeger, Harald Bönisch, Peter Hoor, and Thomas Birner
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 10661–10675, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10661-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-10661-2023, 2023
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We study the statistical relation between year-by-year fluctuations in winter-mean ozone and the strength of the stratospheric polar vortex. In the latitude–pressure plane, regression analysis shows that anomalously weak polar vortex years are associated with three pronounced local ozone maxima over the polar cap relative to the winter climatology. These response maxima primarily reflect the non-trivial combination of different ozone transport processes with varying relative contributions.
Manfred Ern, Mohamadou A. Diallo, Dina Khordakova, Isabell Krisch, Peter Preusse, Oliver Reitebuch, Jörn Ungermann, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 9549–9583, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9549-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-9549-2023, 2023
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Quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of the stratospheric tropical winds is an important mode of climate variability but is not well reproduced in free-running climate models. We use the novel global wind observations by the Aeolus satellite and radiosondes to show that the QBO is captured well in three modern reanalyses (ERA-5, JRA-55, and MERRA-2). Good agreement is also found also between Aeolus and reanalyses for large-scale tropical wave modes in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere.
Sebastian Rhode, Peter Preusse, Manfred Ern, Jörn Ungermann, Lukas Krasauskas, Julio Bacmeister, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7901–7934, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7901-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7901-2023, 2023
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Gravity waves (GWs) transport energy vertically and horizontally within the atmosphere and thereby affect wind speeds far from their sources. Here, we present a model that identifies orographic GW sources and predicts the pathways of the excited GWs through the atmosphere for a better understanding of horizontal GW propagation. We use this model to explain physical patterns in satellite observations (e.g., low GW activity above the Himalaya) and predict seasonal patterns of GW propagation.
Lars Hoffmann, Paul Konopka, Jan Clemens, and Bärbel Vogel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7589–7609, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7589-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7589-2023, 2023
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Atmospheric convection plays a key role in tracer transport in the troposphere. Global meteorological forecasts and reanalyses typically have a coarse spatiotemporal resolution that does not adequately resolve the dynamics, transport, and mixing of air associated with storm systems or deep convection. We discuss the application of the extreme convection parameterization in a Lagrangian transport model to improve simulations of tracer transport from the boundary layer into the free troposphere.
Thomas Wagenhäuser, Markus Jesswein, Timo Keber, Tanja Schuck, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 3887–3903, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3887-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-3887-2023, 2023
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A common assumption to derive mean age from trace gas observations is that all air enters the stratosphere through the tropical tropopause. Using SF6 as an age tracer, this leads to negative mean age values close to the Northern Hemispheric extra-tropical tropopause. Our improved method also considers extra-tropical input into the stratosphere. More realistic values are derived using this method. Interhemispheric differences in mean age are found when comparing data from two aircraft campaigns.
Reimar Bauer, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Jörn Ungermann, May Bär, Markus Geldenhuys, and Lars Hoffmann
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 8983–8997, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8983-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-8983-2022, 2022
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The Mission Support System (MSS) is an open source software package that has been used for planning flight tracks of scientific aircraft in multiple measurement campaigns during the last decade. Here, we describe the MSS software and its use during the SouthTRAC measurement campaign in 2019. As an example for how the MSS software is used in conjunction with many datasets, we describe the planning of a single flight probing orographic gravity waves propagating up into the lower mesosphere.
Qiuyu Chen, Konstantin Ntokas, Björn Linder, Lukas Krasauskas, Manfred Ern, Peter Preusse, Jörn Ungermann, Erich Becker, Martin Kaufmann, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 7071–7103, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7071-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-7071-2022, 2022
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Observations of phase speed and direction spectra as well as zonal mean net gravity wave momentum flux are required to understand how gravity waves reach the mesosphere–lower thermosphere and how they there interact with background flow. To this end we propose flying two CubeSats, each deploying a spatial heterodyne spectrometer for limb observation of the airglow. End-to-end simulations demonstrate that individual gravity waves are retrieved faithfully for the expected instrument performance.
Manfred Ern, Peter Preusse, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15093–15133, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15093-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15093-2022, 2022
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Based on data from the HIRDLS and SABER infrared limb sounding satellite instruments, we investigate the intermittency of global distributions of gravity wave (GW) potential energies and GW momentum fluxes in the stratosphere and mesosphere using probability distribution functions (PDFs) and Gini coefficients. We compare GW intermittency in different regions, seasons, and altitudes. These results can help to improve GW parameterizations and the distributions of GWs resolved in models.
Markus Jesswein, Rafael P. Fernandez, Lucas Berná, Alfonso Saiz-Lopez, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Ryan Hossaini, Eric C. Apel, Rebecca S. Hornbrook, Elliot L. Atlas, Donald R. Blake, Stephen Montzka, Timo Keber, Tanja Schuck, Thomas Wagenhäuser, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15049–15070, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15049-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15049-2022, 2022
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This study presents the global and seasonal distribution of the two major brominated short-lived substances CH2Br2 and CHBr3 in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere based on observations from several aircraft campaigns. They show similar seasonality for both hemispheres, except in the respective hemispheric autumn lower stratosphere. A comparison with the TOMCAT and CAM-Chem models shows good agreement in the annual mean but larger differences in the seasonal consideration.
Bernard Legras, Clair Duchamp, Pasquale Sellitto, Aurélien Podglajen, Elisa Carboni, Richard Siddans, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14957–14970, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14957-2022, 2022
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The long-duration atmospheric impact of the Tonga eruption in January 2022 is a plume of water and sulfate aerosols in the stratosphere that persisted for more than 6 months. We study this evolution using several satellite instruments and analyse the unusual behaviour of this plume as sulfates and water first moved down rapidly and then separated into two layers. We also report the self-organization in compact and long-lived patches.
Mohamadou A. Diallo, Felix Ploeger, Michaela I. Hegglin, Manfred Ern, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Sergey Khaykin, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 14303–14321, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14303-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-14303-2022, 2022
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The quasi-biennial oacillation disruption events in both 2016 and 2020 decreased lower-stratospheric water vapour and ozone. Differences in the strength and depth of the anomalous lower-stratospheric circulation and ozone are due to differences in tropical upwelling and cold-point temperature induced by lower-stratospheric planetary and gravity wave breaking. The differences in water vapour are due to higher cold-point temperature in 2020 induced by Australian wildfire.
Paul Konopka, Mengchu Tao, Marc von Hobe, Lars Hoffmann, Corinna Kloss, Fabrizio Ravegnani, C. Michael Volk, Valentin Lauther, Andreas Zahn, Peter Hoor, and Felix Ploeger
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 7471–7487, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7471-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-7471-2022, 2022
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Pure trajectory-based transport models driven by meteorology derived from reanalysis products (ERA5) take into account only the resolved, advective part of transport. That means neither mixing processes nor unresolved subgrid-scale advective processes like convection are included. The Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS) includes these processes. We show that isentropic mixing dominates unresolved transport. The second most important transport process is unresolved convection.
Liubov Poshyvailo-Strube, Rolf Müller, Stephan Fueglistaler, Michaela I. Hegglin, Johannes C. Laube, C. Michael Volk, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9895–9914, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9895-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9895-2022, 2022
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Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) controls the composition of the stratosphere, which in turn affects radiation and climate. As the BDC cannot be measured directly, it is necessary to infer its strength and trends indirectly. In this study, we test in the
model worlddifferent methods for estimating the mean age of air trends based on a combination of stratospheric water vapour and methane data. We also provide simple practical advice of a more reliable estimation of the mean age of air trends.
Luke M. Western, Alison L. Redington, Alistair J. Manning, Cathy M. Trudinger, Lei Hu, Stephan Henne, Xuekun Fang, Lambert J. M. Kuijpers, Christina Theodoridi, David S. Godwin, Jgor Arduini, Bronwyn Dunse, Andreas Engel, Paul J. Fraser, Christina M. Harth, Paul B. Krummel, Michela Maione, Jens Mühle, Simon O'Doherty, Hyeri Park, Sunyoung Park, Stefan Reimann, Peter K. Salameh, Daniel Say, Roland Schmidt, Tanja Schuck, Carolina Siso, Kieran M. Stanley, Isaac Vimont, Martin K. Vollmer, Dickon Young, Ronald G. Prinn, Ray F. Weiss, Stephen A. Montzka, and Matthew Rigby
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9601–9616, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9601-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9601-2022, 2022
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The production of ozone-destroying gases is being phased out. Even though production of one of the main ozone-depleting gases, called HCFC-141b, has been declining for many years, the amount that is being released to the atmosphere has been increasing since 2017. We do not know for sure why this is. A possible explanation is that HCFC-141b that was used to make insulating foams many years ago is only now escaping to the atmosphere, or a large part of its production is not being reported.
Pasquale Sellitto, Redha Belhadji, Corinna Kloss, and Bernard Legras
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9299–9311, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9299-2022, 2022
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As a consequence of extreme heat and drought, record-breaking wildfires ravaged south-eastern Australia during the fire season in 2019–2020. Fires injected a smoke plume very high up to the stratosphere, which dispersed quite quickly to the whole Southern Hemisphere and interacted with solar radiation, reflecting and absorbing part of it – thus producing impacts on the climate system. Here we estimate this impact on radiation and we study how it depends on the properties and ageing of the plume.
Suvarna Fadnavis, Prashant Chavan, Akash Joshi, Sunil M. Sonbawne, Asutosh Acharya, Panuganti C. S. Devara, Alexandru Rap, Felix Ploeger, and Rolf Müller
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7179–7191, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7179-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7179-2022, 2022
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We show that large amounts of anthropogenic aerosols are transported from South Asia to the northern Indian Ocean. These aerosols are then lifted into the UTLS by the ascending branch of the Hadley circulation. They are further transported to the Southern Hemisphere and downward via westerly ducts over the tropical Atlantic and Pacific. These aerosols increase tropospheric heating, resulting in an increase in water vapor, which is then transported to the UTLS.
Felix Ploeger and Hella Garny
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 5559–5576, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5559-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-5559-2022, 2022
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We investigate hemispheric asymmetries in stratospheric circulation changes in the last 2 decades in model simulations and atmospheric observations. We find that observed trace gas changes can be explained by a structural circulation change related to a deepening circulation in the Northern Hemisphere relative to the Southern Hemisphere. As this asymmetric signal is small compared to internal variability observed circulation trends over the recent past are not in contradiction to climate models.
Lars Hoffmann, Paul F. Baumeister, Zhongyin Cai, Jan Clemens, Sabine Griessbach, Gebhard Günther, Yi Heng, Mingzhao Liu, Kaveh Haghighi Mood, Olaf Stein, Nicole Thomas, Bärbel Vogel, Xue Wu, and Ling Zou
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 2731–2762, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2731-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-2731-2022, 2022
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We describe the new version (2.2) of the Lagrangian transport model MPTRAC, which has been ported for application on GPUs. The model was verified by comparing kinematic trajectories and synthetic tracer simulations for the free troposphere and stratosphere from GPUs and CPUs. Benchmarking showed a speed-up of a factor of 16 of GPU-enabled simulations compared to CPU-only runs, indicating the great potential of applying GPUs for Lagrangian transport simulations on upcoming HPC systems.
Jan Clemens, Felix Ploeger, Paul Konopka, Raphael Portmann, Michael Sprenger, and Heini Wernli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3841–3860, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3841-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3841-2022, 2022
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Highly polluted air flows from the surface to higher levels of the atmosphere during the Asian summer monsoon. At high levels, the air is trapped within eddies. Here, we study how air masses can leave the eddy within its cutoff, how they distribute, and how their chemical composition changes. We found evidence for transport from the eddy to higher latitudes over the North Pacific and even Alaska. During transport, trace gas concentrations within cutoffs changed gradually, showing steady mixing.
Helmut Ziereis, Peter Hoor, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Andreas Zahn, Greta Stratmann, Paul Stock, Michael Lichtenstern, Jens Krause, Vera Bense, Armin Afchine, Christian Rolf, Wolfgang Woiwode, Marleen Braun, Jörn Ungermann, Andreas Marsing, Christiane Voigt, Andreas Engel, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, and Hermann Oelhaf
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3631–3654, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3631-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3631-2022, 2022
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Airborne observations were conducted in the lowermost Arctic stratosphere during the winter of 2015/2016. The observed distribution of reactive nitrogen shows clear indications of nitrification in mid-winter and denitrification in late winter. This was caused by the formation of polar stratospheric cloud particles, which were observed during several flights. The sedimentation and evaporation of these particles and the descent of air masses cause a redistribution of reactive nitrogen.
Sergey M. Khaykin, Elizabeth Moyer, Martina Krämer, Benjamin Clouser, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Alexey Lykov, Armin Afchine, Francesco Cairo, Ivan Formanyuk, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Christian Rolf, Clare E. Singer, Nicole Spelten, Vasiliy Volkov, Vladimir Yushkov, and Fred Stroh
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 3169–3189, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3169-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-3169-2022, 2022
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The Asian monsoon anticyclone is the key contributor to the global annual maximum in lower stratospheric water vapour. We investigate the impact of deep convection on the lower stratospheric water using a unique set of observations aboard the high-altitude M55-Geophysica aircraft deployed in Nepal in summer 2017 within the EU StratoClim project. We find that convective plumes of wet air can persist within the Asian anticyclone for weeks, thereby enhancing the occurrence of high-level clouds.
Dina Khordakova, Christian Rolf, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Rolf Müller, Paul Konopka, Andreas Wieser, Martina Krämer, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1059–1079, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1059-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1059-2022, 2022
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Extreme storms transport humidity from the troposphere to the stratosphere. Here it has a strong impact on the climate. With ongoing global warming, we expect more storms and, hence, an enhancement of this effect. A case study was performed in order to measure the impact of the direct injection of water vapor into the lower stratosphere. The measurements displayed a significant transport of water vapor into the lower stratosphere, and this was supported by satellite and reanalysis data.
Manuel Baumgartner, Christian Rolf, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Julia Schneider, Tobias Schorr, Ottmar Möhler, Peter Spichtinger, and Martina Krämer
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 65–91, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-65-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-65-2022, 2022
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An important mechanism for the appearance of ice particles in the upper troposphere at low temperatures is homogeneous nucleation. This process is commonly described by the
Koop line, predicting the humidity at freezing. However, laboratory measurements suggest that the freezing humidities are above the Koop line, motivating the present study to investigate the influence of different physical parameterizations on the homogeneous freezing with the help of a detailed numerical model.
Cornelia Strube, Peter Preusse, Manfred Ern, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 18641–18668, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18641-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-18641-2021, 2021
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High gravity wave (GW) momentum fluxes in the lower stratospheric southern polar vortex around 60° S are still poorly understood. Few GW sources are found at these latitudes. We present a ray tracing case study on waves resolved in high-resolution global model temperatures southeast of New Zealand. We show that lateral propagation of more than 1000 km takes place below 20 km altitude, and a variety of orographic and non-orographic sources located north of 50° S generate the wave field.
Markus Jesswein, Heiko Bozem, Hans-Christoph Lachnitt, Peter Hoor, Thomas Wagenhäuser, Timo Keber, Tanja Schuck, and Andreas Engel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 17225–17241, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17225-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-17225-2021, 2021
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This study presents and compares inorganic chlorine (Cly) derived from observations with the HALO research aircraft in the Antarctic late winter–early fall 2019 and the Arctic winter 2015–2016. Trend-corrected correlations from the Northern Hemisphere show excellent agreement with those from the Southern Hemisphere. After observation allocation inside and outside the vortex based on N2O measurements, results of the two campaigns reveal substantial differences in Cly within the respective vortex.
Paul D. Hamer, Virginie Marécal, Ryan Hossaini, Michel Pirre, Gisèle Krysztofiak, Franziska Ziska, Andreas Engel, Stephan Sala, Timo Keber, Harald Bönisch, Elliot Atlas, Kirstin Krüger, Martyn Chipperfield, Valery Catoire, Azizan A. Samah, Marcel Dorf, Phang Siew Moi, Hans Schlager, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 16955–16984, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16955-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-16955-2021, 2021
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Bromoform is a stratospheric ozone-depleting gas released by seaweed and plankton transported to the stratosphere via convection in the tropics. We study the chemical interactions of bromoform and its derivatives within convective clouds using a cloud-scale model and observations. Our findings are that soluble bromine gases are efficiently washed out and removed within the convective clouds and that most bromine is transported vertically to the upper troposphere in the form of bromoform.
Meike K. Rotermund, Vera Bense, Martyn P. Chipperfield, Andreas Engel, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Peter Hoor, Tilman Hüneke, Timo Keber, Flora Kluge, Benjamin Schreiner, Tanja Schuck, Bärbel Vogel, Andreas Zahn, and Klaus Pfeilsticker
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15375–15407, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15375-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15375-2021, 2021
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Airborne total bromine (Brtot) and tracer measurements suggest Brtot-rich air masses persistently protruded into the lower stratosphere (LS), creating a high Brtot region over the North Atlantic in fall 2017. The main source is via isentropic transport by the Asian monsoon and to a lesser extent transport across the extratropical tropopause as quantified by a Lagrange model. The transport of Brtot via Central American hurricanes is also observed. Lastly, the impact of Brtot on LS O3 is assessed.
Christoph Mahnke, Ralf Weigel, Francesco Cairo, Jean-Paul Vernier, Armin Afchine, Martina Krämer, Valentin Mitev, Renaud Matthey, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Felix Ploeger, Terry Deshler, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 15259–15282, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-15259-2021, 2021
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In 2017, in situ aerosol measurements were conducted aboard the M55 Geophysica in the Asian monsoon region. The vertical particle mixing ratio profiles show a distinct layer (15–18.5 km), the Asian tropopause aerosol layer (ATAL). The backscatter ratio (BR) was calculated based on the aerosol size distributions and compared with the BRs detected by a backscatter probe and a lidar aboard M55, and by the CALIOP lidar. All four methods show enhanced BRs in the ATAL altitude range (max. at 17.5 km).
Manfred Ern, Mohamadou Diallo, Peter Preusse, Martin G. Mlynczak, Michael J. Schwartz, Qian Wu, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13763–13795, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13763-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13763-2021, 2021
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Details of the driving of the semiannual oscillation (SAO) of the tropical winds in the middle atmosphere are still not known. We investigate the SAO and its driving by small-scale gravity waves (GWs) using satellite data and different reanalyses. In a large altitude range, GWs mainly drive the SAO westerlies, but in the upper mesosphere GWs seem to drive both SAO easterlies and westerlies. Reanalyses reproduce some features of the SAO but are limited by model-inherent damping at upper levels.
Alistair J. Manning, Alison L. Redington, Daniel Say, Simon O'Doherty, Dickon Young, Peter G. Simmonds, Martin K. Vollmer, Jens Mühle, Jgor Arduini, Gerard Spain, Adam Wisher, Michela Maione, Tanja J. Schuck, Kieran Stanley, Stefan Reimann, Andreas Engel, Paul B. Krummel, Paul J. Fraser, Christina M. Harth, Peter K. Salameh, Ray F. Weiss, Ray Gluckman, Peter N. Brown, John D. Watterson, and Tim Arnold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 12739–12755, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12739-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-12739-2021, 2021
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This paper estimates UK emissions of important greenhouse gases (hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)) using high-quality atmospheric observations and atmospheric modelling. We compare these estimates with those submitted by the UK to the United Nations. We conclude that global concentrations of these gases are still increasing. Our estimates for the UK are 73 % of those reported and that the UK emissions are now falling, demonstrating an impact of UK government policy.
Ralf Weigel, Christoph Mahnke, Manuel Baumgartner, Antonis Dragoneas, Bärbel Vogel, Felix Ploeger, Silvia Viciani, Francesco D'Amato, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Beiping Luo, and Stephan Borrmann
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 11689–11722, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-11689-2021, 2021
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In July and August 2017, eight StratoClim mission flights of the Geophysica reached up to 20 km in the Asian monsoon anticyclone. New particle formation (NPF) was identified in situ by abundant nucleation-mode aerosols (6–15 nm in diameter) with mixing ratios of up to 50 000 mg−1. NPF occurred most frequently at 12–16 km with fractions of non-volatile residues of down to 15 %. Abundance and productivity of observed NPF indicate its ability to promote the Asian tropopause aerosol layer.
Markus Geldenhuys, Peter Preusse, Isabell Krisch, Christoph Zülicke, Jörn Ungermann, Manfred Ern, Felix Friedl-Vallon, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10393–10412, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10393-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10393-2021, 2021
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A large-scale gravity wave (GW) was observed spanning the whole of Greenland. The GWs proposed in this paper come from a new jet–topography mechanism. The topography compresses the flow and triggers a change in u- and
v-wind components. The jet becomes out of geostrophic balance and sheds energy in the form of GWs to restore the balance. This topography–jet interaction was not previously considered by the community, rendering the impact of the gravity waves largely unaccounted for.
Lukas Krasauskas, Jörn Ungermann, Peter Preusse, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Andreas Zahn, Helmut Ziereis, Christian Rolf, Felix Plöger, Paul Konopka, Bärbel Vogel, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 10249–10272, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10249-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-10249-2021, 2021
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A Rossby wave (RW) breaking event was observed over the North Atlantic during the WISE measurement campaign in October 2017. Infrared limb sounding measurements of trace gases in the lower stratosphere, including high-resolution 3-D tomographic reconstruction, revealed complex spatial structures in stratospheric tracers near the polar jet related to previous RW breaking events. Backward-trajectory analysis and tracer correlations were used to study mixing and stratosphere–troposphere exchange.
Nuria Pilar Plaza, Aurélien Podglajen, Cristina Peña-Ortiz, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 9585–9607, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9585-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-9585-2021, 2021
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We study the role of different processes in setting the lower stratospheric water vapour. We find that mechanisms involving ice microphysics and small-scale mixing produce the strongest increase in water vapour, in particular over the Asian Monsoon. Small-scale mixing has a special relevance as it improves the agreement with observations at seasonal and intra-seasonal timescales, contrary to the North American Monsoon case, in which large-scale temperatures still dominate its variability.
Fides Lefrancois, Markus Jesswein, Markus Thoma, Andreas Engel, Kieran Stanley, and Tanja Schuck
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4669–4687, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4669-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4669-2021, 2021
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Synthetic halocarbons can contribute to stratospheric ozone depletion or to climate change. In many applications they have been replaced over the last years. The presented non-target analysis shows an application approach to quantify those replacements retrospectively, using recorded data of air measurements with gas chromatography coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. We focus on the retrospective analysis of the fourth-generation halocarbons, detected at Taunus Observatory in Germany.
Thomas Wagenhäuser, Andreas Engel, and Robert Sitals
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3923–3934, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3923-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3923-2021, 2021
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AirCore samplers are increasingly deployed to weather balloons to collect continuous atmospheric samples. We introduce a technique that can be used in situ to evaluate different data processing methods that are required to derive vertical trace gas profiles from AirCore measurements after sample recovery. Results from two test flights with a specific AirCore configuration provide evidence for systematic deviations in altitude attribution for the upper levels, which can be empirically corrected.
Gerald Wetzel, Felix Friedl-Vallon, Norbert Glatthor, Jens-Uwe Grooß, Thomas Gulde, Michael Höpfner, Sören Johansson, Farahnaz Khosrawi, Oliver Kirner, Anne Kleinert, Erik Kretschmer, Guido Maucher, Hans Nordmeyer, Hermann Oelhaf, Johannes Orphal, Christof Piesch, Björn-Martin Sinnhuber, Jörn Ungermann, and Bärbel Vogel
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 8213–8232, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8213-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-8213-2021, 2021
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Measurements of the pollutants C2H6, C2H2, HCOOH, and PAN were performed in the North Atlantic UTLS region with the airborne limb imager GLORIA in 2017. Enhanced amounts of these species were detected in the upper troposphere and even in the lowermost stratosphere (PAN). Main sources of these gases are forest fires in North America and anthropogenic pollution in South Asia. Simulations of EMAC and CAMS are qualitatively able to reproduce the measured data but underestimate the absolute amounts.
Francesco Cairo, Mauro De Muro, Marcel Snels, Luca Di Liberto, Silvia Bucci, Bernard Legras, Ajil Kottayil, Andrea Scoccione, and Stefano Ghisu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7947–7961, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7947-2021, 2021
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A lidar was used in Palau from February–March 2016. Clouds were observed peaking at 3 km below the high cold-point tropopause (CPT). Their occurrence was linked with cold anomalies, while in warm cases, cirrus clouds were restricted to 5 km below the CPT. Thin subvisible cirrus (SVC) near the CPT had distinctive characteristics. They were linked to wave-induced cold anomalies. Back trajectories are mostly compatible with convective outflow, while some distinctive SVC may originate in situ.
Mohamadou Diallo, Manfred Ern, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7515–7544, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7515-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7515-2021, 2021
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Despite good agreement in the spatial structure, there are substantial differences in the strength of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) and its modulations in the UTLS and upper stratosphere. The tropical upwelling is generally weaker in ERA5 than in ERAI due to weaker planetary and gravity wave breaking in the UTLS. Analysis of the BDC trend shows an acceleration of the BDC of about 1.5 % decade-1 due to the long-term intensification in wave breaking, consistent with climate predictions.
Hugo Lestrelin, Bernard Legras, Aurélien Podglajen, and Mikail Salihoglu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 7113–7134, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7113-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-7113-2021, 2021
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Following the 2020 Australian fires, it was recently discovered that stratospheric wildfire smoke plumes self-organize as anticyclonic vortices that persist for months and rise by 10 km due to the radiative heating from the absorbing smoke. In this study, we show that smoke-charged vortices previously occurred in the aftermath of the 2017 Canadian fires. We use meteorological analysis to characterize this new object in geophysical fluid dynamics, which likely impacts radiation and climate.
Max Thomas, Johannes C. Laube, Jan Kaiser, Samuel Allin, Patricia Martinerie, Robert Mulvaney, Anna Ridley, Thomas Röckmann, William T. Sturges, and Emmanuel Witrant
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6857–6873, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6857-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6857-2021, 2021
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CFC gases are destroying the Earth's life-protecting ozone layer. We improve understanding of CFC destruction by measuring the isotopic fingerprint of the carbon in the three most abundant CFCs. These are the first such measurements in the main region where CFCs are destroyed – the stratosphere. We reconstruct the atmospheric isotope histories of these CFCs back to the 1950s by measuring air extracted from deep snow and using a model. The model and the measurements are generally consistent.
Xiaolu Yan, Paul Konopka, Marius Hauck, Aurélien Podglajen, and Felix Ploeger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 6627–6645, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6627-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-6627-2021, 2021
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Inter-hemispheric transport is important for understanding atmospheric tracers because of the asymmetry in emissions between the Southern Hemisphere (SH) and Northern Hemisphere (NH). This study finds that the air masses from the NH extratropics to the atmosphere are about 5 times larger than those from the SH extratropics. The interplay between the Asian summer monsoon and westerly ducts triggers the cross-Equator transport from the NH to the SH in boreal summer and fall.
Irene Bartolome Garcia, Reinhold Spang, Jörn Ungermann, Sabine Griessbach, Martina Krämer, Michael Höpfner, and Martin Riese
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 3153–3168, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3153-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3153-2021, 2021
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Cirrus clouds contribute to the general radiation budget of the Earth. Measuring optically thin clouds is challenging but the IR limb sounder GLORIA possesses the necessary technical characteristics to make it possible. This study analyses data from the WISE campaign obtained with GLORIA. We developed a cloud detection method and derived characteristics of the observed cirrus-like cloud top, cloud bottom or position with respect to the tropopause.
Cited articles
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advective Brewer-Dobson circulation in three reanalyses for the period
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Abalos, M., Shuckburgh, E., and Legras, B.: Interannual variability in
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Birner, T. and Bönisch, H.: Residual circulation trajectories and transit times into the extratropical lowermost stratosphere, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 11, 817–827, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-11-817-2011, 2011. a, b
Bönisch, H., Engel, A., Curtius, J., Birner, Th., and Hoor, P.: Quantifying transport into the lowermost stratosphere using simultaneous in-situ measurements of SF6 and CO2, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 9, 5905–5919, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-9-5905-2009, 2009. a
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Chabrillat, S., Vigouroux, C., Christophe, Y., Engel, A., Errera, Q., Minganti, D., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Segers, A., and Mahieu, E.: Comparison of mean age of air in five reanalyses using the BASCOE transport model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 14715–14735, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-14715-2018, 2018. a, b, c, d, e, f, g
Charlesworth, E. J., Dugstad, A.-K., Fritsch, F., Jöckel, P., and Plöger, F.: Impact of Lagrangian transport on lower-stratospheric transport timescales in a climate model, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 15227–15245, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-15227-2020, 2020. a
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S., Andrae, U., Balmaseda, M. A., Balsamo, G., Bauer, P., Bechtold, P.,
Beljaars, A. C. M., van de Berg, L., Bidlot, J., Bormann, N., Delsol, C.,
Dragani, R., Fuentes, M., Geer, A. J., Haimberger, L., Healy, S. B.,
Hersbach, H., Holm, E. V., Isaksen, L., Kallberg, P., Koehler, M.,
Matricardi, M., McNally, A. P., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Morcrette, J.-J., Park,
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Diallo, M., Legras, B., and Chédin, A.: Age of stratospheric air in the ERA-Interim, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 12, 12133–12154, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-12-12133-2012, 2012. a, b
Dietmüller, S., Garny, H., Plöger, F., Jöckel, P., and Cai, D.: Effects of mixing on resolved and unresolved scales on stratospheric age of air, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 7703–7719, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-7703-2017, 2017. a
Engel, A., Möbius, T., Bönisch, H., Schmidt, U., Heinz, R., Levin, I.,
Atlas, E., Aoki, S., Nakazawa, T., Sugawara, S., Moore, F., Hurst, D.,
Elkins, J., Schauffler, S., Andrews, A., and Boering, K.: Age of
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Fritsch, F., Garny, H., Engel, A., Bönisch, H., and Eichinger, R.: Sensitivity of age of air trends to the derivation method for non-linear increasing inert SF6, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 8709–8725, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-8709-2020, 2020. a, b, c, d
Fujiwara, M., Wright, J. S., Manney, G. L., Gray, L. J., Anstey, J., Birner, T., Davis, S., Gerber, E. P., Harvey, V. L., Hegglin, M. I., Homeyer, C. R., Knox, J. A., Krüger, K., Lambert, A., Long, C. S., Martineau, P., Molod, A., Monge-Sanz, B. M., Santee, M. L., Tegtmeier, S., Chabrillat, S., Tan, D. G. H., Jackson, D. R., Polavarapu, S., Compo, G. P., Dragani, R., Ebisuzaki, W., Harada, Y., Kobayashi, C., McCarty, W., Onogi, K., Pawson, S., Simmons, A., Wargan, K., Whitaker, J. S., and Zou, C.-Z.: Introduction to the SPARC Reanalysis Intercomparison Project (S-RIP) and overview of the reanalysis systems, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 1417–1452, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-1417-2017, 2017. a
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Coy, L., Cullather, R., Draper, C., Akella, S., Buchard, V., Conaty, A.,
da Silva, A. M., Gu, W., Kim, G.-K., Koster, R., Lucchesi, R., Merkova, D.,
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Short summary
We investigate the global stratospheric circulation (Brewer–Dobson circulation) in the new ECMWF ERA5 reanalysis based on age of air simulations, and we compare it to results from the preceding ERA-Interim reanalysis. Our results show a slower stratospheric circulation and higher age for ERA5. The age of air trend in ERA5 over the 1989–2018 period is negative throughout the stratosphere, related to multi-annual variability and a potential contribution from changes in the reanalysis system.
We investigate the global stratospheric circulation (Brewer–Dobson circulation) in the new ECMWF...
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