Advances in Earth Science ›› 2009, Vol. 24 ›› Issue (3): 297-307. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2009.03.0297

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Impacts of the Stratospheric Sudden Warming on the Stratospheric Circulation and Chemical Tracers

Liu Yi 1,Liu Chuanxi 1,2,Lu Chunhui 1,2   

  1. 1. Key Laboratory of the Middle Atmosphere and Global Environmental Observation (LAGEO), Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China;
    2. Graduate University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
  • Received:2009-01-18 Revised:2009-02-20 Online:2009-03-10 Published:2009-03-10

LIiu Yi,Liu Chuanxi,Lu Chunhui. Impacts of the Stratospheric Sudden Warming on the Stratospheric Circulation and Chemical Tracers[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2009, 24(3): 297-307.

     In this paper, we analyze the impacts of the stratospheric sudden warming during 2003-2004 winter, on the stratospheric circulation, transportation and ozone flux comprehensively by using the ECWMF data, MIPAS satellite observations and MOZART3 model. In conclusion, we find out that: (1) This SSW event is a long and intense process, and causes the stratospheric polar vortex break up from up to low levels. During the establishment of easterlies on 10 hPa altitude, the upper polar vortex recovers promptly. (2) The planetary wave is so active that it transports from troposphere to stratosphere several times and the wave 1 played a major role. (3) The analysis from the θ-PVLAT coordinate reveals that there is a pair of poleward and downward propagating modes in stratosphere and an equatorward propagating mode in troposphere. Along with these two modes, zonal wind and temperature anomalies transport as two opposite signals. (4) The stratospheric transport is prominently changed by the enhanced poleward transport and the associated variations of the vertical motions during the planetary wave activities. Consequently, the spatial distributions of stratospheric tracers (N2O、O3、CH4、H2O) are greatly impacted by the warming event. (5) The enhanced wave activities during the warming event have enhanced the Brewer-Dobson circulation in the stratosphere and the cross-tropopause ozone flux in high latitudes. Moreover, the isentropic transport associated with the wave enhancement has also increased the meridional ozone flux outside the extratropical “middleworld” region.

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