Observations of convective cooling in the tropical tropopause layer in AIRS data

Abstract. We investigate the impact of convection on the thermal structure of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL). We use temperature profiles measured by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard the Aqua satellite, and the time evolution of local convection determined by the National Centers for Environmental Protection/Aviation Weather Center (NCEP/AWS) half-hourly infrared global geostationary composite. The observations demonstrate that the TTL is cooled by convection, in agreement with previous observations and model simulations. By using a global data set, we are able to investigate the variations in this convective cooling by season and region. The estimated cooling rate during active convection is 7.5~9 K/day. While we cannot unambiguously identify the cause of this cooling, our analysis suggests that radiative cooling is likely not an explanation.