Articles | Volume 22, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7893-2022
© Author(s) 2022. 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-22-7893-2022
© Author(s) 2022. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
17 Jun 2022
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 17 Jun 2022
| 17 Jun 2022
The Sun's role in decadal climate predictability in the North Atlantic
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
SINTEF Ocean AS, 7010 Trondheim, Norway
DMI – Danish Meteorological Institute, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Wenjuan Huo
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Katja Matthes
GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, 24118 Kiel, Germany
Kunihiko Kodera
Meteorological Research Institute, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0052, Japan
RIKEN Nishina Center for Accelerator-Based Science, Wako, Saitama
351-0198, Japan
Tim Kruschke
SMHI – Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute – Rossby
Centre, 60176 Norrköping, Sweden
now at: Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH), 20359 Hamburg, Germany
Related authors
Katja Matthes, Arne Biastoch, Sebastian Wahl, Jan Harlaß, Torge Martin, Tim Brücher, Annika Drews, Dana Ehlert, Klaus Getzlaff, Fritz Krüger, Willi Rath, Markus Scheinert, Franziska U. Schwarzkopf, Tobias Bayr, Hauke Schmidt, and Wonsun Park
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 2533–2568, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2533-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2533-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A new Earth system model, the Flexible Ocean and Climate Infrastructure (FOCI), is introduced, consisting of a high-top atmosphere, an ocean model, sea-ice and land surface model components. A unique feature of FOCI is the ability to explicitly resolve small-scale oceanic features, for example, the Agulhas Current and the Gulf Stream. It allows to study the evolution of the climate system on regional and seasonal to (multi)decadal scales and bridges the gap to coarse-resolution climate models.
Laura Schaffer, Andreas Boesch, Johanna Baehr, and Tim Kruschke
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 2081–2096, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2081-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-25-2081-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We developed a simple and effective model to predict storm surges in the German Bight, using wind data and a multiple linear regression approach. Trained on historical data from 1959 to 2022, our storm surge model demonstrates high predictive skill and performs as well as more complex models, despite its simplicity. It can predict both moderate and extreme storm surges, making it a valuable tool for future climate change studies.
Mehdi Pasha Karami, Torben Koenigk, Shiyu Wang, René Navarro Labastida, Tim Kruschke, Aude Carreric, Pablo Ortega, Klaus Wyser, Ramon Fuentes Franco, Agatha M. de Boer, Marie Sicard, and Aitor Aldama Campino
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2653, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2653, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Earth System Dynamics (ESD).
Short summary
Short summary
This study uses a high-resolution global climate model to simulate future climate, focusing on the Arctic and North Atlantic. The model captures observed sea ice loss and Atlantic circulation trends, projecting a nearly ice-free Arctic by 2040. It introduces a new method to quantify deep water formation, revealing how different ocean regions contribute to the weakening of overturning circulation in a warming climate.
Wenjuan Huo, Tobias Spiegl, Sebastian Wahl, Katja Matthes, Ulrike Langematz, Holger Pohlmann, and Jürgen Kröger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2589–2612, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2589-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2589-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Uncertainties of the solar signals in the middle atmosphere are assessed based on large ensemble simulations with multiple climate models. Our results demonstrate that the 11-year solar signals in the shortwave heating rate, temperature, and ozone anomalies are significant and robust. The simulated dynamical responses are model-dependent, and solar imprints in the polar night jet are influenced by biases in the model used.
Anja Lindenthal, Claudia Hinrichs, Simon Jandt-Scheelke, Tim Kruschke, Priidik Lagemaa, Eefke M. van der Lee, Ilja Maljutenko, Helen E. Morrison, Tabea R. Panteleit, and Urmas Raudsepp
State Planet, 4-osr8, 16, https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-4-osr8-16-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/sp-4-osr8-16-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In 2022, large parts of the Baltic Sea experienced the third-warmest to warmest summer and autumn temperatures since 1997 and several marine heatwaves (MHWs). Using remote sensing, reanalysis, and in situ data, this study characterizes regional differences in MHW properties in the Baltic Sea in 2022. Furthermore, it presents an analysis of long-term trends and the relationship between atmospheric warming and MHW occurrences, including their propagation into deeper layers.
Tabea Rahm, Robin Pilch Kedzierski, Martje Hänsch, and Katja Matthes
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-667, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-667, 2024
Preprint archived
Short summary
Short summary
Sudden Stratospheric Warmings (SSWs) are extreme wintertime events that can impact surface weather. However, a distinct surface response is not observed for every SSW. Here, we classify SSWs that do and do not impact the troposphere in ERA5 reanalysis data. In addition, we evaluate the effects of two kinds of waves: planetary and synoptic-scale. Our findings emphasize that the lower stratosphere and synoptic-scale waves play crucial roles in coupling the SSW signal to the surface.
Jake W. Casselman, Joke F. Lübbecke, Tobias Bayr, Wenjuan Huo, Sebastian Wahl, and Daniela I. V. Domeisen
Weather Clim. Dynam., 4, 471–487, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-471-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-4-471-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) has remote effects on the tropical North Atlantic (TNA), but the connections' nonlinearity (strength of response to an increasing ENSO signal) is not always well represented in models. Using the Community Earth System Model version 1 – Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Mode (CESM-WACCM) and the Flexible Ocean and Climate Infrastructure version 1, we find that the TNA responds linearly to extreme El Niño but nonlinearly to extreme La Niña for CESM-WACCM.
Ioana Ivanciu, Katja Matthes, Arne Biastoch, Sebastian Wahl, and Jan Harlaß
Weather Clim. Dynam., 3, 139–171, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-139-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-3-139-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Greenhouse gas concentrations continue to increase, while the Antarctic ozone hole is expected to recover during the twenty-first century. We separate the effects of ozone recovery and of greenhouse gases on the Southern Hemisphere atmospheric and oceanic circulation, and we find that ozone recovery is generally reducing the impact of greenhouse gases, with the exception of certain regions of the stratosphere during spring, where the two effects reinforce each other.
Ioannis A. Daglis, Loren C. Chang, Sergio Dasso, Nat Gopalswamy, Olga V. Khabarova, Emilia Kilpua, Ramon Lopez, Daniel Marsh, Katja Matthes, Dibyendu Nandy, Annika Seppälä, Kazuo Shiokawa, Rémi Thiéblemont, and Qiugang Zong
Ann. Geophys., 39, 1013–1035, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-1013-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-1013-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a detailed account of the science programme PRESTO (PREdictability of the variable Solar–Terrestrial cOupling), covering the period 2020 to 2024. PRESTO was defined by a dedicated committee established by SCOSTEP (Scientific Committee on Solar-Terrestrial Physics). We review the current state of the art and discuss future studies required for the most effective development of solar–terrestrial physics.
Klaus Wyser, Torben Koenigk, Uwe Fladrich, Ramon Fuentes-Franco, Mehdi Pasha Karami, and Tim Kruschke
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 4781–4796, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4781-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4781-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes the large ensemble done by SMHI with the EC-Earth3 climate model. The ensemble comprises 50 realizations for each of the historical experiments after 1970 and four different future projections for CMIP6. We describe the creation of the initial states for the ensemble and the reduced set of output variables. A first look at the results illustrates the changes in the climate during this century and puts them in relation to the uncertainty from the model's internal variability.
Tian Tian, Shuting Yang, Mehdi Pasha Karami, François Massonnet, Tim Kruschke, and Torben Koenigk
Geosci. Model Dev., 14, 4283–4305, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4283-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-14-4283-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Three decadal prediction experiments with EC-Earth3 are performed to investigate the impact of ocean, sea ice concentration and thickness initialization, respectively. We find that the persistence of perennial thick ice in the central Arctic can affect the sea ice predictability in its adjacent waters via advection process or wind, despite those regions being seasonally ice free during two recent decades. This has implications for the coming decades as the thinning of Arctic sea ice continues.
Ioana Ivanciu, Katja Matthes, Sebastian Wahl, Jan Harlaß, and Arne Biastoch
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 5777–5806, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5777-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-5777-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The Antarctic ozone hole has driven substantial dynamical changes in the Southern Hemisphere atmosphere over the past decades. This study separates the historical impacts of ozone depletion from those of rising levels of greenhouse gases and investigates how these impacts are captured in two types of climate models: one using interactive atmospheric chemistry and one prescribing the CMIP6 ozone field. The effects of ozone depletion are more pronounced in the model with interactive chemistry.
Sabine Haase, Jaika Fricke, Tim Kruschke, Sebastian Wahl, and Katja Matthes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 14043–14061, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14043-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-14043-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Ozone depletion over Antarctica was shown to influence the tropospheric jet in the Southern Hemisphere. We investigate the atmospheric response to ozone depletion comparing climate model ensembles with interactive and prescribed ozone fields. We show that allowing feedbacks between ozone chemistry and model physics as well as including asymmetries in ozone leads to a strengthened ozone depletion signature in the stratosphere but does not significantly affect the tropospheric jet position.
Robin Pilch Kedzierski, Katja Matthes, and Karl Bumke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 11569–11592, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11569-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-11569-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Rossby wave packet (RWP) dynamics are crucial for weather forecasting, climate change projections and stratosphere–troposphere interactions. Our study is a first attempt to describe RWP behavior in the UTLS with global coverage directly from observations, using GNSS-RO data. Our novel results show an interesting relation of RWP vertical propagation with sudden stratospheric warmings and provide very useful information to improve RWP diagnostics in models and reanalysis.
Julian Krüger, Robin Pilch Kedzierski, Karl Bumke, and Katja Matthes
Weather Clim. Dynam. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2020-32, https://doi.org/10.5194/wcd-2020-32, 2020
Revised manuscript not accepted
Short summary
Short summary
Motivated by the European heat wave occurrences of 2015 and 2018, this study evaluates the influence of cold North Atlantic SST anomalies on European heat waves by using the ERA-5 reanalysis product. Our findings show that widespread cold North Atlantic SST anomalies may be a precursor for a persistent jet stream pattern and are thus important for the onset of high European temperatures.
Markus Kunze, Tim Kruschke, Ulrike Langematz, Miriam Sinnhuber, Thomas Reddmann, and Katja Matthes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6991–7019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6991-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6991-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
Modelling the response of the atmosphere and its constituents to 11-year solar variations is subject to a certain uncertainty arising from the solar irradiance data set used in the chemistry–climate model (CCM) and the applied CCM itself.
This study reveals significant influences from both sources on the variations in the solar response in the stratosphere and mesosphere.
However, there are also regions where the random, unexplained part of the variations in the solar response is largest.
Haiyan Li, Robin Pilch Kedzierski, and Katja Matthes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 20, 6541–6561, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6541-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6541-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The QBO westerly phase was reversed by an unexpected easterly jet near 40 hPa and the westerly zonal wind lasted an unusually long time at 20 hPa during winter 2015/16. We find that quasi-stationary Rossby wave W1 and faster Rossby wave W2 propagating from the northern extratropics and a locally generated Rossby wave W3 were important contributors to the easterly jet at 40 hPa. Our results suggest that the unusual zonal wind structure at 20 hPa could be caused by enhanced Kelvin wave activity.
Katja Matthes, Arne Biastoch, Sebastian Wahl, Jan Harlaß, Torge Martin, Tim Brücher, Annika Drews, Dana Ehlert, Klaus Getzlaff, Fritz Krüger, Willi Rath, Markus Scheinert, Franziska U. Schwarzkopf, Tobias Bayr, Hauke Schmidt, and Wonsun Park
Geosci. Model Dev., 13, 2533–2568, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2533-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-13-2533-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
A new Earth system model, the Flexible Ocean and Climate Infrastructure (FOCI), is introduced, consisting of a high-top atmosphere, an ocean model, sea-ice and land surface model components. A unique feature of FOCI is the ability to explicitly resolve small-scale oceanic features, for example, the Agulhas Current and the Gulf Stream. It allows to study the evolution of the climate system on regional and seasonal to (multi)decadal scales and bridges the gap to coarse-resolution climate models.
Sabine Haase and Katja Matthes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 3417–3432, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3417-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-3417-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The Antarctic ozone hole influences surface climate in the Southern Hemisphere. Recent studies have shown that stratospheric ozone depletion in the Arctic can also affect the surface. We evaluate the importance of the direct and indirect representation of ozone variability in a climate model for this surface response. We show that allowing feedbacks between ozone chemistry, radiation, and dynamics enhances and prolongs the surface response to Northern Hemisphere spring ozone depletion.
Kunihiko Kodera, Nawo Eguchi, Rei Ueyama, Yuhji Kuroda, Chiaki Kobayashi, Beatriz M. Funatsu, and Chantal Claud
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 19, 2655–2669, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2655-2019, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-2655-2019, 2019
Short summary
Short summary
The recent cooling of the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean occurred in conjunction with enhanced cross-equatorial southerlies associated with a strengthening of the boreal summer Hadley circulation. A combination of land surface warming and reduced static stability in the tropical tropopause layer due to stratospheric cooling is suggested to have caused the increase in the deep ascending branch of the Hadley circulation and related recent decadal change in the tropical troposphere and ocean.
Amanda C. Maycock, Katja Matthes, Susann Tegtmeier, Hauke Schmidt, Rémi Thiéblemont, Lon Hood, Hideharu Akiyoshi, Slimane Bekki, Makoto Deushi, Patrick Jöckel, Oliver Kirner, Markus Kunze, Marion Marchand, Daniel R. Marsh, Martine Michou, David Plummer, Laura E. Revell, Eugene Rozanov, Andrea Stenke, Yousuke Yamashita, and Kohei Yoshida
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 11323–11343, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11323-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-11323-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
The 11-year solar cycle is an important driver of climate variability. Changes in incoming solar ultraviolet radiation affect atmospheric ozone, which in turn influences atmospheric temperatures. Constraining the impact of the solar cycle on ozone is therefore important for understanding climate variability. This study examines the representation of the solar influence on ozone in numerical models used to simulate past and future climate. We highlight important differences among model datasets.
Vered Silverman, Nili Harnik, Katja Matthes, Sandro W. Lubis, and Sebastian Wahl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 18, 6637–6659, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6637-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-6637-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a quantified and mechanistic understanding of the radiative effects of ozone waves on the NH stratosphere. In particular, we find these effects to influence the seasonal evolution of the midlatitude QBO signal (Holton–Tan effect), which is important for getting realistic dynamical interactions in climate models. We also provide a synoptic view on the evolution of the seasonal development of the Holton–Tan effect by looking at the life cycle of upward-propagating waves.
Stefan Liersch, Julia Tecklenburg, Henning Rust, Andreas Dobler, Madlen Fischer, Tim Kruschke, Hagen Koch, and Fred Fokko Hattermann
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2163–2185, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-2163-2018, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-22-2163-2018, 2018
Short summary
Short summary
Application-oriented regional impact studies require accurate simulations of future climate variables and water availability. We analyse the quality of global and regional climate projections and discuss potentials of correction methods that partly overcome this quality issue. The model ensemble used in this study projects increasing average annual discharges and a shift in seasonal patterns, with decreasing discharges in June and July and increasing discharges from August to November.
Katja Matthes, Bernd Funke, Monika E. Andersson, Luke Barnard, Jürg Beer, Paul Charbonneau, Mark A. Clilverd, Thierry Dudok de Wit, Margit Haberreiter, Aaron Hendry, Charles H. Jackman, Matthieu Kretzschmar, Tim Kruschke, Markus Kunze, Ulrike Langematz, Daniel R. Marsh, Amanda C. Maycock, Stergios Misios, Craig J. Rodger, Adam A. Scaife, Annika Seppälä, Ming Shangguan, Miriam Sinnhuber, Kleareti Tourpali, Ilya Usoskin, Max van de Kamp, Pekka T. Verronen, and Stefan Versick
Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 2247–2302, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2247-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2247-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
The solar forcing dataset for climate model experiments performed for the upcoming IPCC report is described. This dataset provides the radiative and particle input of solar variability on a daily basis from 1850 through to 2300. With this dataset a better representation of natural climate variability with respect to the output of the Sun is provided which provides the most sophisticated and comprehensive respresentation of solar variability that has been used in climate model simulations so far.
Robin Pilch Kedzierski, Katja Matthes, and Karl Bumke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 4093–4114, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4093-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-4093-2017, 2017
Sandro W. Lubis, Vered Silverman, Katja Matthes, Nili Harnik, Nour-Eddine Omrani, and Sebastian Wahl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 2437–2458, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2437-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-2437-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
Downward wave coupling (DWC) events impact high-latitude stratospheric ozone in two ways: (1) reduced dynamical transport of ozone from low to high latitudes during individual events and (2) enhanced springtime chemical destruction of ozone via the cumulative impact of DWC events on polar stratospheric temperatures. The results presented here broaden the scope of the impact of wave–mean flow interaction on stratospheric ozone by highlighting the key role of wave reflection.
Kunihiko Kodera, Nawo Eguchi, Hitoshi Mukougawa, Tomoe Nasuno, and Toshihiko Hirooka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 17, 615–625, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-615-2017, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-615-2017, 2017
Short summary
Short summary
An exceptional strengthening of the middle atmospheric subtropical jet occurred without an apparent relationship with the tropospheric circulation. The analysis of this event demonstrated downward penetration of stratospheric influence to the troposphere: in the north polar region amplification of planetary wave occurred due to a deflection by the strong middle atmospheric subtropical jet, whereas in the tropics, increased tropopause temperature suppressed equatorial convective activity.
Tobias Pardowitz, Robert Osinski, Tim Kruschke, and Uwe Ulbrich
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 16, 2391–2402, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-2391-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-16-2391-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This paper describes an approach to derive probabilistic predictions of local winter storm damage occurrences. Such predictions are subject to large uncertainty due to meteorological forecast uncertainty and uncertainties in modelling weather impacts. The paper aims to quantify these uncertainties and demonstrate that valuable predictions can be made on the district level several days ahead.
Kunihiko Kodera, Rémi Thiéblemont, Seiji Yukimoto, and Katja Matthes
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12925–12944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12925-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12925-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The spatial structure of the solar cycle signals on the Earth's surface is analysed to identify the mechanisms. Both tropical and extratropical solar surface signals can result from circulation changes in the upper stratosphere through (i) a downward migration of wave zonal mean flow interactions and (ii) changes in the stratospheric mean meridional circulation. Amplification of the solar signal also occurs through interaction with the ocean.
Nathan P. Gillett, Hideo Shiogama, Bernd Funke, Gabriele Hegerl, Reto Knutti, Katja Matthes, Benjamin D. Santer, Daithi Stone, and Claudia Tebaldi
Geosci. Model Dev., 9, 3685–3697, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3685-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-9-3685-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
Detection and attribution of climate change is the process of determining the causes of observed climate changes, which has underpinned key conclusions on the role of human influence on climate in the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). This paper describes a coordinated set of climate model experiments that will form part of the Sixth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project and will support improved attribution of climate change in the next IPCC report.
Robin Pilch Kedzierski, Katja Matthes, and Karl Bumke
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 11617–11633, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11617-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-11617-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
This study provides a detailed overview of the daily variability of the tropopause inversion layer (TIL) in the tropics, where TIL research had focused little. The vertical and horizontal structures of this atmospheric layer are described and linked to near-tropopause horizontal wind divergence, the QBO and especially to equatorial waves. Our results increase the knowledge about the observed properties of the tropical TIL, mainly using satellite GPS radio-occultation measurements.
Amanda C. Maycock, Katja Matthes, Susann Tegtmeier, Rémi Thiéblemont, and Lon Hood
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 10021–10043, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10021-2016, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-10021-2016, 2016
Short summary
Short summary
The impact of changes in incoming solar radiation on stratospheric ozone has important impacts on the atmosphere. Understanding this ozone response is crucial for constraining how solar activity affects climate. This study analyses the solar ozone response (SOR) in satellite datasets and shows that there are substantial differences in the magnitude and spatial structure across different records. In particular, the SOR in the new SAGE v7.0 mixing ratio data is smaller than in the previous v6.2.
Ming Shangguan, Katja Matthes, Wuke Wang, and Tae-Kwon Wee
Atmos. Meas. Tech. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-248, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-2016-248, 2016
Revised manuscript has not been submitted
Short summary
Short summary
A first validation of the COSMIC Radio Occultation (RO) water vapor data in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) are presented in this paper. The COSMIC water vapor shows a good agreement with the Microwave limb Sounder (MLS) in both the spatial distribution and the seasonal to interannual variations. It is very valuable for studying the water vapor in the UTLS, thanks to its global coverage, all- weather aptitude and high vertical resolution.
W. Wang, K. Matthes, and T. Schmidt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 15, 5815–5826, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5815-2015, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-15-5815-2015, 2015
I. Ermolli, K. Matthes, T. Dudok de Wit, N. A. Krivova, K. Tourpali, M. Weber, Y. C. Unruh, L. Gray, U. Langematz, P. Pilewskie, E. Rozanov, W. Schmutz, A. Shapiro, S. K. Solanki, and T. N. Woods
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 13, 3945–3977, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3945-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-13-3945-2013, 2013
T. Kobashi, D. T. Shindell, K. Kodera, J. E. Box, T. Nakaegawa, and K. Kawamura
Clim. Past, 9, 583–596, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-583-2013, https://doi.org/10.5194/cp-9-583-2013, 2013
Related subject area
Subject: Dynamics | Research Activity: Atmospheric Modelling and Data Analysis | Altitude Range: Troposphere | Science Focus: Physics (physical properties and processes)
Synoptic and microphysical lifetime constraints for contrails
Country- and species-dependent parameters for the heating degree day method to distribute NOx and PM emissions from residential heating in the EU 27: application to air quality modelling and multi-year emission projections
Physical processes influencing the Asian climate due to black carbon emission over East and South Asia
Significant Response of Methane in the Upper Troposphere to Subseasonal Variability of the Asian Monsoon Anticyclone
Valley floor inclination affecting valley winds and transport of passive tracers in idealised simulations
Source reconstruction via deposition measurements of an undeclared radiological atmospheric release
To what extent is the description of streets important in estimating local air quality: a case study over Paris
Variability and trends in the potential vorticity (PV)-gradient dynamical tropopause
Kinematic properties of regions that can involve persistent contrails
The spatiotemporal evolution of atmospheric boundary layers over a thermally heterogeneous landscape
The marinada fall wind in the eastern Ebro sub-basin: physical mechanisms and role of the sea, orography and irrigation
The influences of El Niño–Southern Oscillation on tropospheric ozone in CMIP6 models
Technical note: Exploring parameter and meteorological uncertainty via emulation in volcanic ash atmospheric dispersion modelling
Role of the Indian Ocean basin mode in driving the interdecadal variations of summer precipitation over the East Asian monsoon boundary zone
Extreme ozone episodes in a major Mediterranean urban area
Wintertime extreme warming events in the high Arctic: characteristics, drivers, trends, and the role of atmospheric rivers
Influence of lower-tropospheric moisture on local soil moisture–precipitation feedback over the US Southern Great Plains
The Lagrangian Atmospheric Radionuclide Transport Model (ARTM) – sensitivity studies and evaluation using airborne measurements of power plant emissions
Large-eddy-model closure and simulation of turbulent flux patterns over oasis surface
Impact of the Guinea coast upwelling on atmospheric dynamics, precipitation and pollutant transport over southern West Africa
Investigating multiscale meteorological controls and impact of soil moisture heterogeneity on radiation fog in complex terrain using semi-idealised simulations
Effect of the boundary layer low-level jet on fast fog spatial propagation
Mediterranean tropical-like cyclone forecasts and analysis using the ECMWF ensemble forecasting system with physical parameterization perturbations
Using synthetic case studies to explore the spread and calibration of ensemble atmospheric dispersion forecasts
Meteorological modeling sensitivity to parameterizations and satellite-derived surface datasets during the 2017 Lake Michigan Ozone Study
Trajectory enhancement of low-earth orbiter thermodynamic retrievals to predict convection: a simulation experiment
Lagrangian transport simulations using the extreme convection parameterization: an assessment for the ECMWF reanalyses
Better-constrained climate sensitivity when accounting for dataset dependency on pattern effect estimates
Determination of the chemical equator from GEOS-Chem model simulation: a focus on the tropical western Pacific region
Uncertainty in parameterized convection remains a key obstacle for estimating surface fluxes of carbon dioxide
Antarctic atmospheric Richardson number from radiosonde measurements and AMPS
Divergent convective outflow in large-eddy simulations
Modulation of daily PM2.5 concentrations over China in winter by large-scale circulation and climate change
Modeling of street-scale pollutant dispersion by coupled simulation of chemical reaction, aerosol dynamics, and CFD
Daytime along-valley winds in the Himalayas as simulated by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model
Evolution of squall line variability and error growth in an ensemble of large eddy simulations
Climatology and variability of air mass transport from the boundary layer to the Asian monsoon anticyclone
Evaluation and bias correction of probabilistic volcanic ash forecasts
The representation of the trade winds in ECMWF forecasts and reanalyses during EUREC4A
Modeling approaches for atmospheric ion–dipole collisions: all-atom trajectory simulations and central field methods
Parameterizing the aerodynamic effect of trees in street canyons for the street network model MUNICH using the CFD model Code_Saturne
Quantifying the impact of meteorological uncertainty on emission estimates and the risk to aviation using source inversion for the Raikoke 2019 eruption
Acceleration of the southern African easterly jet driven by the radiative effect of biomass burning aerosols and its impact on transport during AEROCLO-sA
Future projections of daily haze-conducive and clear weather conditions over the North China Plain using a perturbed parameter ensemble
Refining an ensemble of volcanic ash forecasts using satellite retrievals: Raikoke 2019
Ship-based estimates of momentum transfer coefficient over sea ice and recommendations for its parameterization
Revising the definition of anthropogenic heat flux from buildings: role of human activities and building storage heat flux
An assessment of tropopause characteristics of the ERA5 and ERA-Interim meteorological reanalyses
Distinct evolutions of haze pollution from winter to the following spring over the North China Plain: role of the North Atlantic sea surface temperature anomalies
The foehn effect during easterly flow over Svalbard
Sina Maria Hofer and Klaus Martin Gierens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-326, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-326, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The climate effect of contrails depends on contrail lifetime. Thus, it is important to know what constrains the lifetime. In this paper we characterize the two most important contrail dissolution processes via their respective time-scales. Both time-scales are in the order of a couple of hours, depending on the synoptic situation and the size of the contrail ice crystals. The combined time-scale which combines both processes is the harmonic mean of the two single time-scales.
Antoine Guion, Florian Couvidat, Marc Guevara, and Augustin Colette
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 2807–2827, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2807-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-2807-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The residential sector can cause high background levels of pollutants and pollution peaks in winter. Its emissions are dominated by space heating and show strong daily variations linked to changes in outside temperature. Using heating degree days, we provide country- and species-dependent parameters for the distribution of these emissions, improving the performance of the CHIMERE air quality model. This also allows annual residential emissions to be projected before official publications.
Feifei Luo, Bjørn Samset, Camilla Stjern, Manoj Joshi, Laura Wilcox, Robert Allen, Wei Hua, and Shuanglin Li
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3867, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3867, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Black carbon (BC) aerosol is emitted from the incomplete combustion of biomass and fossil fuels. We found that Asian BC lead to a strong local cooling and drying. Reductions in precipitation primarily depend on the thermodynamic effects due to solar radiation absorption by BC. The combined thermodynamic and Dynamic effects shape the spatial pattern of precipitation responses to Asian BC. These results help further understand the impact of emissions of anthropogenic aerosols on Asian climate.
Sihong Zhu, Mengchu Tao, Zhaonan Cai, Yi Liu, Liang Feng, Pubu Sangmu, Zhongshui Yu, and Junji Cao
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4188, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4188, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Methane (CH4) emissions can be transported into the upper troposphere (UT) via the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA), driving CH4 enhancements. Whether emissions or upward transport remain debated. We analyzed UT CH4 variability with AMA dynamics, finding strong ties between CH4 distribution and the AMA’s east-west oscillation. When centered near 80° E, vertical transport largely enhances CH4 anomalies, with circulation effects 1–2 times greater than emissions.
Johannes Mikkola, Alexander Gohm, Victoria A. Sinclair, and Federico Bianchi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 511–533, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-511-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-511-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the influence of valley floor inclination on diurnal winds and passive tracer transport within idealised mountain valleys using numerical simulations. The valley inclination strengthens the daytime up-valley winds but only up to a certain point. Beyond that critical angle, the winds weaken again. The inclined valleys transport the tracers higher up in the free troposphere, which would, for example, lead to higher potential for long-range transport.
Stijn Van Leuven, Pieter De Meutter, Johan Camps, Piet Termonia, and Andy Delcloo
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4057, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-4057, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We use deposition measurements to trace the source of the radioactive isotope Ru-106 released into the atmosphere in 2017, which led to detections in Europe and other parts of the northern hemisphere. Most frequently, measurements of air concentration are used for such purposes. Our research shows that while air concentration data can provide more precise results, deposition measurements can still effectively pinpoint the release location, offering a less costly and more versatile alternative.
Alexis Squarcioni, Yelva Roustan, Myrto Valari, Youngseob Kim, Karine Sartelet, Lya Lugon, Fabrice Dugay, and Robin Voitot
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 93–117, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-93-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-93-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study highlights the interest of using a street-network model to estimate pollutant concentrations of NOx, NO2, and PM2.5 in heterogeneous urban areas, particularly those adjacent to highways, compared with the subgrid-scale approach embedded in the 3D Eulerian model CHIMERE. However, the study also reveals comparable performances between the two approaches for the aforementioned pollutants in areas near the city center, where urban characteristics are more uniform.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Sina Maria Hofer and Klaus Martin Gierens
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3520, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3520, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Ice supersaturation is an immaterial feature, which does not generally move with the wind that carries contrails and cirrus clouds. Here we analyse the different motions and show that ice supersaturated regions (ISSRs) on average move slower than the wind, the direction of movement is usually quite similar and the distributions of both velocities follow Weibull distributions. The almost identical direction of the movements is beneficial for contrail lifetimes.
Mary Rose Mangan, Jordi Vilà-Guerau de Arellano, Bart J. H. van Stratum, Marie Lothon, Guylaine Canut-Rocafort, and Oscar K. Hartogensis
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3000, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3000, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Using observations and high-resolution turbulence modeling, we examine the influence of irrigation-driven surface heterogeneity on the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL). We employ different spatial scales of heterogeneity to explore how the influence of surface heterogeneity on the ABL within a single grid cell would change in higher resolution global models. We find that the height of the ABL is highly variable, and that the surface heterogeneity is felt least strongly in the middle of the ABL.
Tanguy Lunel, Maria Antonia Jimenez, Joan Cuxart, Daniel Martinez-Villagrasa, Aaron Boone, and Patrick Le Moigne
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 7637–7666, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7637-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-7637-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
During the summer in Catalonia, a cool wind, the marinada, blows into the eastern Ebro basin in the afternoon. This study investigates its previously unclear dynamics using observations and a meteorological model. It is found to be driven by a cool marine air mass that flows over the mountains into the basin. The study shows how the sea breeze, upslope winds, larger weather patterns and irrigation play a prominent role in the formation and characteristics of the marinada.
Thanh Le, Seon-Ho Kim, Jae-Yeong Heo, and Deg-Hyo Bae
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6555–6566, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6555-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6555-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We examined the links between the El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and tropospheric ozone (O3) using model data. Our results show that ENSO impacts on tropospheric O3 are mainly found over oceans, while the signature of ENSO over continents is largely unclear. These impacts in the midlatitude regions over the Southern Hemisphere may be more significant than previously known. The responses of O3 to ENSO are weak in the middle troposphere and stronger in the upper and lower troposphere.
James M. Salter, Helen N. Webster, and Cameron Saint
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 6251–6274, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6251-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-6251-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Models are used to make forecasts of volcanic ash dispersion during eruptions. These models have unknown inputs relating to the eruption itself, physical processes, and meteorological conditions. We use statistical models to predict the output of the expensive physical model and show we can account for the effects of the different inputs. We compare the model to real-world observations and show that accounting for all sources of uncertainty may lead to different conclusions about the inputs.
Jing Wang, Yanju Liu, Fei Cheng, Chengyu Song, Qiaoping Li, Yihui Ding, and Xiangde Xu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 5099–5115, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5099-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-5099-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Based on long-term observational, reanalysis, and numerical model simulation datasets from 1901 through 2014, this study shows that precipitation over the East Asian monsoon boundary zone featured prominent interdecadal changes, with dry summers during the periods preceding 1927, 1939–1945, 1968–1982, and 1998–2010 and wet summers during 1928–1938, 1946–1967, and 2011 onwards. The Indian Ocean basin mode is an important oceanic modulator responsible for its interdecadal variations.
Jordi Massagué, Eduardo Torre-Pascual, Cristina Carnerero, Miguel Escudero, Andrés Alastuey, Marco Pandolfi, Xavier Querol, and Gotzon Gangoiti
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4827–4850, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4827-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4827-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study analyses three acute ozone episodes in Barcelona (NE Spain) which have occurred only in recent years and are of particular concern due to the city's significant population. The findings uncover a complex interplay of factors, notably shared among episodes, including pollution transport at different scales and specific weather and emission patterns. These insights significantly enhance our understanding of these occurrences and improve predictive capabilities.
Weiming Ma, Hailong Wang, Gang Chen, Yun Qian, Ian Baxter, Yiling Huo, and Mark W. Seefeldt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4451–4472, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4451-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4451-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Extreme warming events with surface temperature going above 0°C can occur in the high-Arctic winter. Although reanalysis data show that these events were short-lived and occurred rarely during 1980–2021, they have become more frequent, stronger, and longer lasting latterly. A dipole pattern, comprising high- and low-pressure systems, is found to be the key in driving them. These findings have implications for the recent changes in sea ice, hydrological cycle, and ecosystem over the Arctic.
Gaoyun Wang, Rong Fu, Yizhou Zhuang, Paul A. Dirmeyer, Joseph A. Santanello, Guiling Wang, Kun Yang, and Kaighin McColl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 3857–3868, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3857-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-3857-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the influence of lower-tropospheric humidity on land–atmosphere coupling (LAC) during warm seasons in the US Southern Great Plains. Using radiosonde data and a buoyancy model, we find that elevated LT humidity is crucial for generating afternoon precipitation events under dry soil conditions not accounted for by conventional LAC indices. This underscores the importance of considering LT humidity in understanding LAC over dry soil during droughts in the SGP.
Robert Hanfland, Dominik Brunner, Christiane Voigt, Alina Fiehn, Anke Roiger, and Margit Pattantyús-Ábrahám
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 2511–2534, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2511-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-2511-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
To show that the three-dimensional dispersion of plumes simulated by the Atmospheric Radionuclide Transport Model within the planetary boundary layer agrees with real plumes, we identify the most important input parameters and analyse the turbulence properties of five different turbulence models in very unstable stratification conditions using their deviation from the well-mixed state. Simulations show that one model agrees slightly better in unstable stratification conditions.
Bangjun Cao, Yaping Shao, Xianyu Yang, Xin Yin, and Shaofeng Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 275–285, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-275-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-275-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Our novel scheme enhances large-eddy simulations (LESs) for atmosphere–land interactions. It couples LES subgrid closure with Monin–Obukhov similarity theory (MOST), overcoming MOST's limitations. Validated over diverse land surfaces, our approach outperforms existing methods, aligning well with field measurements. Robustness is demonstrated across varying model resolutions. MOST's influence strengthens with decreasing grid spacing, particularly for sensible heat flux.
Gaëlle de Coëtlogon, Adrien Deroubaix, Cyrille Flamant, Laurent Menut, and Marco Gaetani
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 15507–15521, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15507-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-15507-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Using a numerical atmospheric model, we found that cooling sea surface temperatures along the southern coast of West Africa in July cause the “little dry season”. This effect reduces humidity and pollutant transport inland, potentially enhancing West Africa's synoptic and seasonal forecasting.
Dongqi Lin, Marwan Katurji, Laura E. Revell, Basit Khan, and Andrew Sturman
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 14451–14479, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14451-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-14451-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Accurate fog forecasting is difficult in a complex environment. Spatial variations in soil moisture could impact fog. Here, we carried out fog simulations with spatially different soil moisture in complex topography. The soil moisture was calculated using satellite observations. The results show that the spatial variations in soil moisture do not have a significant impact on where fog occurs but do impact how long fog lasts. This finding could improve fog forecasts in the future.
Shuqi Yan, Hongbin Wang, Xiaohui Liu, Fan Zu, and Duanyang Liu
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13987–14002, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13987-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13987-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, we quantitatively study the effect of the boundary layer low-level jet (BLLJ) on fast fog spatial propagation; i.e., the fog area expands very fast along a certain direction. The wind speed (10 m s−1) and direction (southeast) of the BLLJ core are consistent with fog propagation (9.6 m s−1). The BLLJ-induced temperature and moisture advections are possible reasons for fast fog propagation. The propagation speed would decrease by 6.4 m s−1 if these advections were turned off.
Miriam Saraceni, Lorenzo Silvestri, Peter Bechtold, and Paolina Bongioannini Cerlini
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 13883–13909, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13883-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-13883-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study focuses on three medicanes, tropical-like cyclones that form in the Mediterranean Sea, studied by ensemble forecasting. This involved multiple simulations of the same event by varying initial conditions and model physics parameters, especially related to convection, which showed comparable results. It is found that medicane development is influenced by the model's ability to predict precursor events and the interaction between upper and lower atmosphere dynamics and thermodynamics.
Andrew R. Jones, Susan J. Leadbetter, and Matthew C. Hort
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 12477–12503, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12477-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-12477-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The paper explores spread and calibration properties of ensemble atmospheric dispersion forecasts for hypothetical release events. Real-time forecasts from an ensemble weather prediction system were used to generate an ensemble of dispersion predictions and assessed against simulations produced using analysis meteorology. Results demonstrate good performance overall but highlight more skilful predictions for material released in the upper air compared with releases near the surface.
Jason A. Otkin, Lee M. Cronce, Jonathan L. Case, R. Bradley Pierce, Monica Harkey, Allen Lenzen, David S. Henderson, Zac Adelman, Tsengel Nergui, and Christopher R. Hain
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7935–7954, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7935-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7935-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We performed model simulations to assess the impact of different parameterization schemes, surface initialization datasets, and analysis nudging on lower-tropospheric conditions near Lake Michigan. Simulations were run with high-resolution, real-time datasets depicting lake surface temperatures, green vegetation fraction, and soil moisture. The most accurate results were obtained when using high-resolution sea surface temperature and soil datasets to constrain the model simulations.
Mark T. Richardson, Brian H. Kahn, and Peter Kalmus
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7699–7717, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7699-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Convection over land often triggers hours after a satellite last passed overhead and measured the state of the atmosphere, and during those hours the atmosphere can change greatly. Here we show that it is possible to reconstruct most of those changes by using weather forecast winds to predict where warm and moist air parcels will travel. The results can be used to better predict where precipitation is likely to happen in the hours after satellite measurements.
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
Short summary
Short summary
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.
Angshuman Modak and Thorsten Mauritsen
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7535–7549, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7535-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7535-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
We provide an improved estimate of equilibrium climate sensitivity (ECS) constrained based on the instrumental temperature record including the corrections for the pattern effect. The improved estimate factors in the uncertainty caused by the underlying sea-surface temperature datasets used in the estimates of pattern effect. This together with the inter-model spread lifts the corresponding IPCC AR6 estimate to 3.2 K [1.8 to 11.0], which is lower and better constrained than in past studies.
Xiaoyu Sun, Mathias Palm, Katrin Müller, Jonas Hachmeister, and Justus Notholt
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 7075–7090, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-7075-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The tropical western Pacific (TWP) is an active interhemispheric transport region contributing significantly to the global climate. A method to determine the chemical equator was developed by model simulations of a virtual passive tracer to analyze transport in the tropics, with a focus on the TWP region. We compare the chemical equator with tropical rain belts and wind fields and obtain a vertical pattern of interhemispheric transport processes which shows tilt structure in certain seasons.
Andrew E. Schuh and Andrew R. Jacobson
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6285–6297, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6285-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6285-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
A comparison of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations resulting from two different atmospheric transport models showed large differences in predicted concentrations with significant space–time correlations. The vertical mixing of long-lived trace gases by convection was determined to be the main driver of these differences. The resulting uncertainty was deemed significant to the application of using atmospheric gradients of carbon dioxide to estimate surface fluxes of carbon dioxide.
Qike Yang, Xiaoqing Wu, Xiaodan Hu, Zhiyuan Wang, Chun Qing, Tao Luo, Pengfei Wu, Xianmei Qian, and Yiming Guo
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6339–6355, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6339-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6339-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The AMPS-forecasted Richardson number was first comprehensively validated over the Antarctic continent. Some potential underlying reasons for the discrepancies between the forecasts and observations were analyzed. The underlying physical processes of triggering atmospheric turbulence in Antarctica were investigated. Our results suggest that the estimated Richardson number by the AMPS is reasonable and the turbulence conditions in Antarctica are well revealed.
Edward Groot and Holger Tost
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 6065–6081, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6065-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-6065-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
It is shown that the outflow from cumulonimbus clouds or thunderstorms in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere in idealized high-resolution simulations (LESs) depends linearly on the net amount of latent heat released by the cloud for fixed geometry of the clouds. However, it is shown that, in more realistic situations, convective organization and aggregation (collecting mechanisms of cumulonimbus clouds) affect the amount of outflow non-linearly through non-idealized geometry.
Zixuan Jia, Carlos Ordóñez, Ruth M. Doherty, Oliver Wild, Steven T. Turnock, and Fiona M. O'Connor
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 2829–2842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2829-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-2829-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
This study investigates the influence of the winter large-scale circulation on daily concentrations of PM2.5 and their sensitivity to emissions. The new proposed circulation index can effectively distinguish different levels of air pollution and explain changes in PM2.5 sensitivity to emissions from local and surrounding regions. We then project future changes in PM2.5 concentrations using this index and find an increase in PM2.5 concentrations over the region due to climate change.
Chao Lin, Yunyi Wang, Ryozo Ooka, Cédric Flageul, Youngseob Kim, Hideki Kikumoto, Zhizhao Wang, and Karine Sartelet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 1421–1436, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1421-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-1421-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
In this study, SSH-aerosol, a modular box model that simulates the evolution of gas, primary, and secondary aerosols, is coupled with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, OpenFOAM and Code_Saturne. The transient dispersion of pollutants emitted from traffic in a street canyon of Greater Paris is simulated. The coupled model achieved better agreement in NO2 and PM10 with measurement data than the conventional CFD simulation which regards pollutants as passive scalars.
Johannes Mikkola, Victoria A. Sinclair, Marja Bister, and Federico Bianchi
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 821–842, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-821-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-821-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Local winds in four valleys located in the Nepal Himalayas are studied by means of high-resolution meteorological modelling. Well-defined daytime up-valley winds are simulated in all of the valleys with some variation in the flow depth and strength among the valleys and their parts. Parts of the valleys with a steep valley floor inclination (2–5°) are associated with weaker and shallower daytime up-valley winds compared with the parts that have nearly flat valley floors (< 1°).
Edward Groot and Holger Tost
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 23, 565–585, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-565-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-23-565-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Thunderstorm systems play an important role in the dynamics of the Earth’s atmosphere, and some of them form a well-organised line: squall lines. Simulations of such squall lines with very small initial perturbations are compared to a reference simulation. The evolution of perturbations and processes amplifying them are analysed. It is shown that the formation of new secondary thunderstorm cells (after the initial primary cells) directly ahead of the line affects the spread strongly.
Matthias Nützel, Sabine Brinkop, Martin Dameris, Hella Garny, Patrick Jöckel, Laura L. Pan, and Mijeong Park
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 15659–15683, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15659-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-15659-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
During the Asian summer monsoon season, a large high-pressure system is present at levels close to the tropopause above Asia. We analyse how air masses are transported from surface levels to this high-pressure system, which shows distinct features from the surrounding air masses. To this end, we employ multiannual data from two complementary models that allow us to analyse the climatology as well as the interannual and intraseasonal variability of these transport pathways.
Alice Crawford, Tianfeng Chai, Binyu Wang, Allison Ring, Barbara Stunder, Christopher P. Loughner, Michael Pavolonis, and Justin Sieglaff
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13967–13996, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13967-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13967-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study describes the development of a workflow which produces probabilistic and quantitative forecasts of volcanic ash in the atmosphere. The workflow includes methods of incorporating satellite observations of the ash cloud into a modeling framework as well as verification statistics that can be used to guide further model development and provide information for risk-based approaches to flight planning.
Alessandro Carlo Maria Savazzi, Louise Nuijens, Irina Sandu, Geet George, and Peter Bechtold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 13049–13066, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13049-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-13049-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Winds are of great importance for the transport of energy and moisture in the atmosphere. In this study we use measurements from the EUREC4A field campaign and several model experiments to understand the wind bias in the forecasts produced by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. We are able to link the model errors to heights above 2 km and to the representation of the diurnal cycle of winds: the model makes the winds too slow in the morning and too strong in the evening.
Ivo Neefjes, Roope Halonen, Hanna Vehkamäki, and Bernhard Reischl
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 11155–11172, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11155-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-11155-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Collisions between ionic and dipolar molecules and clusters facilitate the formation of atmospheric aerosol particles, which affect global climate and air quality. We compared often-used classical approaches for calculating ion–dipole collision rates with robust atomistic computer simulations. While classical approaches work for simple ions and dipoles only, our modeling approach can also efficiently calculate reasonable collision properties for more complex systems.
Alice Maison, Cédric Flageul, Bertrand Carissimo, Yunyi Wang, Andrée Tuzet, and Karine Sartelet
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 9369–9388, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9369-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-9369-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This paper presents a parameterization of the tree crown effect on air flow and pollutant dispersion in a street network model used to simulate air quality at the street level. The new parameterization is built using a finer-scale model (computational fluid dynamics). The tree effect increases with the leaf area index and the crown volume fraction of the trees; the street horizontal velocity is reduced by up to 68 % and the vertical transfer into or out of the street by up to 23 %.
Natalie J. Harvey, Helen F. Dacre, Cameron Saint, Andrew T. Prata, Helen N. Webster, and Roy G. Grainger
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8529–8545, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8529-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8529-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
In the event of a volcanic eruption, airlines need to make decisions about which routes are safe to operate and ensure that airborne aircraft land safely. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the application of a statistical technique that best combines ash information from satellites and a suite of computer forecasts of ash concentration to provide a range of plausible estimates of how much volcanic ash emitted from a volcano is available to undergo long-range transport.
Jean-Pierre Chaboureau, Laurent Labbouz, Cyrille Flamant, and Alma Hodzic
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 8639–8658, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8639-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-8639-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Ground-based, spaceborne and rare airborne observations of biomass burning aerosols (BBAs) during the AEROCLO-sA field campaign in 2017 are complemented with convection-permitting simulations with online trajectories. The results show that the radiative effect of the BBA accelerates the southern African easterly jet and generates upward motions that transport the BBAs to higher altitudes and farther southwest.
Shipra Jain, Ruth M. Doherty, David Sexton, Steven Turnock, Chaofan Li, Zixuan Jia, Zongbo Shi, and Lin Pei
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 7443–7460, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7443-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-7443-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We provide a range of future projections of winter haze and clear conditions over the North China Plain (NCP) using multiple simulations from a climate model for the high-emission scenario (RCP8.5). The frequency of haze conducive weather is likely to increase whereas the frequency of clear weather is likely to decrease in future. The total number of hazy days for a given winter can be as much as ˜3.5 times higher than the number of clear days over the NCP.
Antonio Capponi, Natalie J. Harvey, Helen F. Dacre, Keith Beven, Cameron Saint, Cathie Wells, and Mike R. James
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 6115–6134, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6115-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-6115-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Forecasts of the dispersal of volcanic ash in the atmosphere are hampered by uncertainties in parameters describing the characteristics of volcanic plumes. Uncertainty quantification is vital for making robust flight-planning decisions. We present a method using satellite data to refine a series of volcanic ash dispersion forecasts and quantify these uncertainties. We show how we can improve forecast accuracy and potentially reduce the regions of high risk of volcanic ash relevant to aviation.
Piyush Srivastava, Ian M. Brooks, John Prytherch, Dominic J. Salisbury, Andrew D. Elvidge, Ian A. Renfrew, and Margaret J. Yelland
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4763–4778, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4763-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4763-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The parameterization of surface turbulent fluxes over sea ice remains a weak point in weather forecast and climate models. Recent theoretical developments have introduced more extensive physics but these descriptions are poorly constrained due to a lack of observation data. Here we utilize a large dataset of measurements of turbulent fluxes over sea ice to tune the state-of-the-art parameterization of wind stress, and compare it with a previous scheme.
Yiqing Liu, Zhiwen Luo, and Sue Grimmond
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4721–4735, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4721-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4721-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Anthropogenic heat emission from buildings is important for atmospheric modelling in cities. The current building anthropogenic heat flux is simplified by building energy consumption. Our research proposes a novel approach to determine ‘real’ building anthropogenic heat emission from the changes in energy balance fluxes between occupied and unoccupied buildings. We hope to provide new insights into future parameterisations of building anthropogenic heat flux in urban climate models.
Lars Hoffmann and Reinhold Spang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 4019–4046, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4019-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-4019-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
We present an intercomparison of 2009–2018 lapse rate tropopause characteristics as derived from ECMWF's ERA5 and ERA-Interim reanalyses. Large-scale features are similar, but ERA5 shows notably larger variability, which we mainly attribute to UTLS temperature fluctuations due to gravity waves being better resolved by ECMWF's IFS forecast model. Following evaluation with radiosondes and GPS data, we conclude ERA5 will be a more suitable asset for tropopause-related studies in future work.
Linye Song, Shangfeng Chen, Wen Chen, Jianping Guo, Conglan Cheng, and Yong Wang
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1669–1688, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1669-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1669-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This study shows that in most years when haze pollution (HP) over the North China Plain (NCP) is more (less) serious in winter, air conditions in the following spring are also worse (better) than normal. Conversely, there are some years when HP in the following spring is opposed to that in winter. It is found that North Atlantic sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies play important roles in HP evolution over the NCP. Thus North Atlantic SST is an important preceding signal for NCP HP evolution.
Anna A. Shestakova, Dmitry G. Chechin, Christof Lüpkes, Jörg Hartmann, and Marion Maturilli
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 22, 1529–1548, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1529-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-22-1529-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the easterly orographic wind episode which occurred over Svalbard on 30–31 May 2017. This wind caused a significant temperature rise on the lee side of the mountains and greatly intensified the snowmelt. This episode was investigated on the basis of measurements collected during the ACLOUD/PASCAL field campaigns with the help of numerical modeling.
Cited articles
Allan, R. and Ansell, T.: A New Globally Complete Monthly Historical Gridded
Mean Sea Level Pressure Dataset (HadSLP2): 1850–2004, J. Climate, 19,
5816–5842, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI3937.1, 2006.
Andrews, M. B., Knight, J. R., and Gray, L. J.: A simulated lagged response
of the North Atlantic Oscillation to the solar cycle over the period 1960–2009, Environ. Res. Lett., 10, 054022,
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/10/5/054022, 2015.
Bellucci, A., Haarsma, R., Gualdi, S., Athanasiadis, P. J., Caian, M.,
Cassou, C., Fernandez, E., Germe, A., Jungclaus, J., Kröger, J., Matei,
D., Müller, W., Pohlmann, H., Salas y Melia, D., Sanchez, E., Smith, D.,
Terray, L., Wyser, K., and Yang, S.: An assessment of a multi-model ensemble
of decadal climate predictions, Clim. Dynam., 44, 2787–2806,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-014-2164-y, 2015.
Boer, G. J.: Long time-scale potential predictability in an ensemble of
coupled climate models, Clim. Dynam., 23, 29–44,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-004-0419-8, 2004.
Boer, G. J., Kharin, V. V., and Merryfield, W. J.: Decadal predictability and
forecast skill, Clim. Dynam., 41, 1817–1833,
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-013-1705-0, 2013.
Borchert, L. F., Menary, M. B., Swingedouw, D., Sgubin, G., Hermanson, L.,
and Mignot, J.: Improved Decadal Predictions of North Atlantic Subpolar Gyre
SST in CMIP6, Geophys. Res. Lett., 48, e2020GL091307,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091307, 2021.
CESM (Community Earth System Model): Software Engineering Group (CESG), NCAR: CESM1.0 Public Release [code], http://www.cesm.ucar.edu/models/cesm1.0 (last access: 30 May 2022), 2020.
Chiodo, G., Oehrlein, J., Polvani, L. M., Fyfe, J. C., and Smith, A. K.:
Insignificant influence of the 11-year solar cycle on the North Atlantic
Oscillation, Nat. Geosci., 12, 94–99, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-018-0293-3, 2019.
Diaconis, P. and Efron, B.: Computer-intensive methods in statistics, Sci. Am., 248, 116–131, https://doi.org/10.1038/scientificamerican0583-116, 1983.
Dima, M., Lohmann, G., and Dima, I.: Solar-induced and internal climate
variability at decadal time scales, Int. J. Climatol.,
25, 713–733, https://doi.org/10.1002/joc.1156, 2005.
Drews, A., Huo, W., Matthes, K., Kodera, K., and Wahl, S.: acp-2021-241, in ACP (1.0), Zenodo [code], https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6619200, 2022.
Dunstone, N., Smith, D., Scaife, A., Hermanson, L., Eade, R., Robinson, N.,
Andrews, M., and Knight, J.: Skilful predictions of the winter North Atlantic
Oscillation one year ahead, Nat. Geosci., 9, 809–814,
https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2824, 2016.
Ebisuzaki, W.: A Method to Estimate the Statistical Significance of a
Correlation When the Data Are Serially Correlated, J. Climate, 10,
2147–2153, https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0442(1997)010<2147:AMTETS>2.0.CO;2, 1997.
Exner, F. M.: Über monatliche Witterungsanomalien auf der nördlichen
Erdhälfte im Winter, Hölder, 1913.
Garcia, R. R., López-Puertas, M., Funke, B., Marsh, D. R., Kinnison, D.
E., Smith, A. K., and González-Galindo, F.: On the distribution of CO2
and CO in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, J. Geophys.
Res.-Atmos., 119, 5700–5718,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD021208, 2014.
Garcia, R. R., Smith, A. K., Kinnison, D. E., de la Cámara, Á., and
Murphy, D. J.: Modification of the Gravity Wave Parameterization in the
Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model: Motivation and Results, J. Atmos. Sci., 74, 275–291,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JAS-D-16-0104.1, 2017.
Goddard, L., Kumar, A., Solomon, A., Smith, D., Boer, G., Gonzalez, P.,
Kharin, V., Merryfield, W., Deser, C., Mason, S. J., Kirtman, B. P., Msadek,
R., Sutton, R., Hawkins, E., Fricker, T., Hegerl, G., Ferro, C. A. T.,
Stephenson, D. B., Meehl, G. A., Stockdale, T., Burgman, R., Greene, A. M.,
Kushnir, Y., Newman, M., Carton, J., Fukumori, I., and Delworth, T.: A
verification framework for interannual-to-decadal predictions experiments,
Clim. Dynam., 40, 245–272, https://doi.org/10.1007/s00382-012-1481-2, 2013.
Gray, L. J., Beer, J., Geller, M., Haigh, J. D., Lockwood, M., Matthes, K.,
Cubasch, U., Fleitmann, D., Harrison, G., Hood, L., Luterbacher, J., Meehl,
G. A., Shindell, D., van Geel, B., and White, W.: Solar Influences on
Climate, Rev. Geophys., 48, RG4001, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009RG000282,
2010.
Gray, L. J., Scaife, A. A., Mitchell, D. M., Osprey, S., Ineson, S.,
Hardiman, S., Butchart, N., Knight, J., Sutton, R., and Kodera, K.: A lagged
response to the 11 year solar cycle in observed winter Atlantic/European
weather patterns, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 118, 2013JD020062,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020062, 2013.
Gray, L. J., Woollings, T. J., Andrews, M., and Knight, J.: Eleven-year solar
cycle signal in the NAO and Atlantic/European blocking, Q. J. Roy. Meteor.
Soc., 142, 1890–1903, https://doi.org/10.1002/qj.2782, 2016.
Guttu, S., Orsolini, Y., Stordal, F., Otterå, O. H., Omrani, N.-E.,
Tartaglione, N., Verronen, P. T., Rodger, C. J., and Clilverd, M. A.: Impacts of
UV Irradiance and Medium-Energy Electron Precipitation on the North Atlantic
Oscillation during the 11-Year Solar Cycle, Atmosphere, 12, 1029,
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos12081029, 2021.
Haigh, J. D.: The role of stratospheric ozone in modulating the solar
radiative forcing of climate, Nature, 370, 544–546,
https://doi.org/10.1038/370544a0, 1994.
Huang, B., Thorne, P. W., Banzon, V. F., Boyer, T., Chepurin, G., Lawrimore,
J. H., Menne, M. J., Smith, T. M., Vose, R. S., and Zhang, H.-M.: Extended
Reconstructed Sea Surface Temperature, Version 5 (ERSSTv5): Upgrades,
Validations, and Intercomparisons, J. Climate, 30, 8179–8205,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-16-0836.1, 2017.
Hurrell, J. W. and Deser, C.: Northern Hemisphere climate variability during
winter: Looking back on the work of Felix Exner, Meteorol.
Z., 24, 113–118, https://doi.org/10.1127/metz/2015/0578, 2015.
Hurrell, J. W., Holland, M. M., Gent, P. R., Ghan, S., Kay, J. E., Kushner,
P. J., Lamarque, J.-F., Large, W. G., Lawrence, D., Lindsay, K., Lipscomb,
W. H., Long, M. C., Mahowald, N., Marsh, D. R., Neale, R. B., Rasch, P.,
Vavrus, S., Vertenstein, M., Bader, D., Collins, W. D., Hack, J. J., Kiehl,
J., and Marshall, S.: The Community Earth System Model: A Framework for
Collaborative Research, B. Am. Meteorol. Soc.,
94, 1339–1360, https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-12-00121.1, 2013.
Kinnison, D. E., Brasseur, G. P., Walters, S., Garcia, R. R., Marsh, D. R.,
Sassi, F., Harvey, V. L., Randall, C. E., Emmons, L., Lamarque, J. F., Hess,
P., Orlando, J. J., Tie, X. X., Randel, W., Pan, L. L., Gettelman, A.,
Granier, C., Diehl, T., Niemeier, U., and Simmons, A. J.: Sensitivity of
chemical tracers to meteorological parameters in the MOZART-3 chemical
transport model, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 112, D20302,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2006JD007879, 2007.
Kodera, K.: Solar influence on the spatial structure of the NAO during the
winter 1900–1999, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1175,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2002GL016584, 2003.
Kodera, K. and Kuroda, Y.: Dynamical response to the solar cycle, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, ACL 5-1–ACL 5-12,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2002JD002224, 2002.
Kodera, K., Thiéblemont, R., Yukimoto, S., and Matthes, K.: How can we understand the global distribution of the solar cycle signal on the Earth's surface?, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 16, 12925–12944, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-16-12925-2016, 2016.
Kruschke, T., Matthes, K., and Wahl, S.: CESM1.0.6 full solar variability ensemble, DOKU at DKRZ [data set] , http://cera-www.dkrz.de/WDCC/ui/Compact.jsp?acronym=DKRZ_LTA_519_ds00036 (last access: 7 June 2022), 2020a.
Kruschke, T., Matthes, K., and Wahl, S.: CESM1.0.6 low frequency solar variability ensemble, DOKU at DKRZ [data set], http://cera-www.dkrz.de/WDCC/ui/Compact.jsp?acronym=DKRZ_LTA_519_ds00035 (last access: 7 June 2022), 2020b.
Kuroda, Y., Kodera, K., Yoshida, K., Yukimoto, S., and Gray, L.: Influence of
the solar cycle on the North Atlantic Oscillation, J. Geophys.
Res.-Atmos., 127, e2021JD035519,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2021JD035519, 2022.
Kushnir, Y., Scaife, A. A., Arritt, R., Balsamo, G., Boer, G., Doblas-Reyes,
F., Hawkins, E., Kimoto, M., Kolli, R. K., Kumar, A., Matei, D., Matthes,
K., Müller, W. A., O'Kane, T., Perlwitz, J., Power, S., Raphael, M.,
Shimpo, A., Smith, D., Tuma, M., and Wu, B.: Towards operational predictions
of the near-term climate, Nat. Clim. Change, 9, 94–101,
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0359-7, 2019.
Ma, H., Chen, H., Gray, L., Zhou, L., Li, X., Wang, R., and Zhu, S.: Changing
response of the North Atlantic/European winter climate to the 11 year solar
cycle, Environ. Res. Lett., 13, 034007,
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/aa9e94, 2018.
Marsh, D. R., Mills, M. J., Kinnison, D. E., Lamarque, J.-F., Calvo, N., and
Polvani, L. M.: Climate Change from 1850 to 2005 Simulated in CESM1 (WACCM),
J. Climate, 26, 7372–7391, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00558.1,
2013.
Matthes, K., Kuroda, Y., Kodera, K., and Langematz, U.: Transfer of the solar
signal from the stratosphere to the troposphere: Northern winter, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 111, D06108,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JD006283, 2006.
Matthes, K., Marsh, D. R., Garcia, R. R., Kinnison, D. E., Sassi, F., and
Walters, S.: Role of the QBO in modulating the influence of the 11 year
solar cycle on the atmosphere using constant forcings, J.
Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 115, D18110,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JD013020, 2010.
Matthes, K., Funke, B., Andersson, M. E., Barnard, L., Beer, J., Charbonneau, P., Clilverd, M. A., Dudok de Wit, T., Haberreiter, M., Hendry, A., Jackman, C. H., Kretzschmar, M., Kruschke, T., Kunze, M., Langematz, U., Marsh, D. R., Maycock, A. C., Misios, S., Rodger, C. J., Scaife, A. A., Seppälä, A., Shangguan, M., Sinnhuber, M., Tourpali, K., Usoskin, I., van de Kamp, M., Verronen, P. T., and Versick, S.: Solar forcing for CMIP6 (v3.2), Geosci. Model Dev., 10, 2247–2302, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-10-2247-2017, 2017.
Menne, M. J., Williams, C. N., Gleason, B. E., Rennie, J. J., and Lawrimore,
J. H.: The Global Historical Climatology Network Monthly Temperature
Dataset, Version 4, J. Climate, 31, 9835–9854,
https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-18-0094.1, 2018.
Misios, S. and Schmidt, H.: Mechanisms Involved in the Amplification of the
11-yr Solar Cycle Signal in the Tropical Pacific Ocean, J. Climate, 25,
5102–5118, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-11-00261.1, 2012.
Neale, R. B., Richter, J., Park, S., Lauritzen, P. H., Vavrus, S. J., Rasch,
P. J., and Zhang, M.: The Mean Climate of the Community Atmosphere Model
(CAM4) in Forced SST and Fully Coupled Experiments, J. Climate,
26, 5150–5168, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-12-00236.1, 2013.
Otterå, O. H., Bentsen, M., Drange, H., and Suo, L.: External forcing as
a metronome for Atlantic multidecadal variability, Nat. Geosci., 3,
688–694, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo955, 2010.
Scaife, A. A., Ineson, S., Knight, J. R., Gray, L., Kodera, K., and Smith, D.
M.: A mechanism for lagged North Atlantic climate response to solar
variability, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 434–439,
https://doi.org/10.1002/grl.50099, 2013.
Smith, A. K., López-Puertas, M., Funke, B., García-Comas, M.,
Mlynczak, M. G., and Holt, L. A.: Nighttime ozone variability in the high
latitude winter mesosphere, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos.,
119, 13547–13564, https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JD021987, 2014.
Smith, D. M., Eade, R., Scaife, A. A., Caron, L.-P., Danabasoglu, G.,
DelSole, T. M., Delworth, T., Doblas-Reyes, F. J., Dunstone, N. J.,
Hermanson, L., Kharin, V., Kimoto, M., Merryfield, W. J., Mochizuki, T.,
Müller, W. A., Pohlmann, H., Yeager, S., and Yang, X.: Robust skill of
decadal climate predictions, npj Climate and Atmospheric Science, 2,
1–10, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-019-0071-y, 2019.
Thiéblemont, R., Matthes, K., Omrani, N.-E., Kodera, K., and Hansen, F.:
Solar forcing synchronizes decadal North Atlantic climate variability,
Nat. Commun., 6, 8268, https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms9268, 2015.
Visbeck, M., Chassignet, E. P., Curry, R. G., Delworth, T. L., Dickson, R.
R., and Krahmann, G.: The Ocean's Response to North Atlantic Oscillation
Variability, in: The North Atlantic Oscillation: Climatic Significance and
Environmental Impact, edited by: Hurrell, J. W., Kushnir, Y., Ottersen, G., and
Visbeck, M., 113–145, American Geophysical Union, https://doi.org/10.1029/134GM06, 2003.
Yeager, S. G. and Robson, J. I.: Recent Progress in Understanding and
Predicting Atlantic Decadal Climate Variability, Curr. Clim. Change Rep., 3,
112–127, https://doi.org/10.1007/s40641-017-0064-z, 2017.
Executive editor
This paper by Drews et al. reports model simulations of the effect of the 11-year solar cycle on the atmospheric circulation and hence on year-to-year variations in weather patterns, . The physics of the effect of the solar cycle is complex, but one important mechanism is believed to be via the variation in short-wave radiation, which perturbs the ozone distribution in the upper stratosphere. The key development in this study is a good model representation of chemistry, radiation and dynamics and their interactions to enable the dynamical feedback processes, which potentially communicate the direct physical effects of the solar cycle to the lower part of the atmosphere, to be adequately simulated. An important aspect of the paper is that the authors exploit an ensemble of simulations that make it possible to distinguish a signal due to solar-cycle effects from natural weather variability. The results convincingly show a solar cycle effect, over the North Atlantic in particular, where variations in the circulation have important implications for the weather experienced in Europe. This is particularly the case in the current period (since 1950 or so) when the 11-year solar variation is strong relative to the entire historical record (starting in about 1850). The results of this paper suggest that including solar cycle effects in models used for decadal climate predictions can provide worthwhile improvements in the skill of such predictions.
This paper by Drews et al. reports model simulations of the effect of the 11-year solar cycle on...
Short summary
Solar irradiance varies with a period of approximately 11 years. Using a unique large chemistry–climate model dataset, we investigate the solar surface signal in the North Atlantic and European region and find that it changes over time, depending on the strength of the solar cycle. For the first time, we estimate the potential predictability associated with including realistic solar forcing in a model. These results may improve seasonal to decadal predictions of European climate.
Solar irradiance varies with a period of approximately 11 years. Using a unique large...
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint