Advances in Earth Science ›› 2006, Vol. 21 ›› Issue (7): 713-720. doi: 10.11867/j.issn.1001-8166.2006.07.0713

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On the Influence of Stratospheric Anomalies on Tropospheric Weather Systems

Hu Yongyun   

  1. Department of Atmospheric Sciences, School of Physics, Peking University Laboratory of Severe Storm and Flood Disasters, Peking University, Beijing 100871,China
  • Received:2006-01-26 Revised:2006-05-25 Online:2006-07-15 Published:2006-07-15

Hu Yongyun. On the Influence of Stratospheric Anomalies on Tropospheric Weather Systems[J]. Advances in Earth Science, 2006, 21(7): 713-720.

It was traditionally thought that the stratosphere has little influence on the troposphere. However, recent observational studies show that such a downward influence is significant and important. Especially, recent studies on the Arctic Oscillation (AO) greatly advanced the research in this problem. It is found that stratospheric anomalies can have important influences on tropospheric weather systems, that is, in winter negative AO anomalies in the stratosphere can trigger extremely cold weather events in the midlatitude troposphere, whereas positive stratospheric AO anomalies can lead to warm weather. It is even suggested that signals of stratospheric anomalies can be used to predict tropospheric weather in Northern-Hemisphere winter time, which can expand the time scale of weather prediction up to 3 weeks. The present paper reviews the progress in this research area, explains the physical mechanisms of stratospheric influences on tropospheric weather systems, summarizes controversial points of views, and suggests some problems for future research.

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