Total ozone and equatorial zonal wind

Spatial correlations between total column ozone observed by TOMS and equatorial zonal winds from 1979 to 2003 have been assessed. Four months and three different altitude levels have been analyzed: January and July (solstice months), April and October (equinoctial months), and 10, 30 and 50 hPa. The results are different for the months and altitudes considered. The highest correlations values appear in tropical zone at 30 hPa. The Brewer–Dobson circulation plays a key role in regulating the abundance of ozone, influenced by the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) circulation. Since the Brewer–Dobson is a slow circulation, correlations considering lags between one and 12 months were estimated. In this case, the highest correlations values are moving to subtropical latitudes at winter hemisphere, with different behaviors for three altitude levels considered.     

On the solar/QBO effect on the interannual variability of total ozone and the stratospheric circulation over Northern Europe

Based on total ozone data from the World Ozone Data Center and stratospheric geopotential height data from the Meteorological Institute of Berlin Free University for the months of January through March for the time period of 1958–1996, the influence of the 11-year solar cycle and the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on total ozone and the stratospheric circulation at 30 hPa over Northern Europe is investigated. The analysis is performed for different levels of solar activity. The relationship of the equatorial QBO with ozone and the stratospheric circulation over the study region exhibits unique features attributed to strong opposite connections between the equatorial zonal wind and ozone/stratospheric dynamics during periods of solar minimum and maximum. Using the Solar/QBO effect, a statistical extraction of the interannual variations of total ozone and stratospheric circulation over Northern Europe has been attempted. The variations extracted and observed for late winter show very good correspondence. The solar/QBO effect in total ozone and stratospheric dynamics over Northern Europe appears to be related to planetary wave activity.     

Impact of winter thermal condition of the Tibetan Plateau on the zonal wind anomaly over equatorial Pacific

Using the improved CCM1 dynamic climate model, the impact of abnormal heat source and sink over the Tibetan Plateau in winter on the abnormal zonal wind over the Pacific Ocean is studied in this paper. The following new-findings are obtained: (1) When the at mospheric cold source during January—March on the Tibetan Plateau gets intensified, an abnormal anticyclone around the Tibetan Plateau will appear in lower troposphere. Abnormal northerly wind at the coastal area of the mainland of China and an abnormal cyclone will appear on the West Pacific in the following months. Then, abnormal west wind will appear over the equator of the West Pacific and extends to the East Pacific. (2) When the atmospheric cold source during January—March over the Tibetan Plateau is unusually weak, an abnormal cyclone around the Tibetan Plateau will appear at lower levels first, then abnormal anticyclone will appear on the West Pacific and move to the south and result in abnormal easterly wind over the equator of the West Pacific, which will extend to the east. Furthermore, abnormal changes of zonal wind on equatorial Indian Ocean can be caused by the intensity change of atmospheric cold source in winter and early spring over the Tibetan Plateau.

     

The quasi-biennial oscillation in the equatorial stratosphere: Seasonal regularity in zonal wind changes,discrete QBO-cycle period and prediction of QBO-cycle duration

The changes of vertical wind structure in equatorial stratosphere in course of Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) demonstrates the evident seasonal dependence. The easterly wind regime descending from the middle to lower stratosphere always includes the stationary period—the stagnation stage. At stagnation stage the bottom boundary of the easterly wind is located in different QBO-cycles at different altitude in the range from ∼22 to ∼26 km, but in each QBO-cycle this altitude is actually constant during the whole stagnation period. Stagnation always begins in solstice (in June–July or December–January). Descent of the easterly wind after stagnation is always resumed near equinox—in March–April or September–October. Consequently, the duration of stagnation stage varies discretely and can be equal to one, three, or five seasons (three, nine, or fifteen months, respectively) in different QBO-cycles. The QBO-cycle period determined as an interval between the beginnings of two successive stagnation stages turns out to be of discrete duration also, and can be equal to 24, 30, or 36 months. The dependence of many atmosphere phenomena determining the Earth’s climate on QBO-phase suggests the need to forecast the QBO-cycle evolution. The established seasonal regularity and discrete QBO-cycle period make it possible the forecasting the QBO-cycle evolution, its duration, and the dates of the QBO-phase changing.     

The sunspot cycle, the QBO, and the total ozone over Northeastern Europe: a connection through the dynamics of stratospheric circulation

The interaction between the factors of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) and the 11-year solar cycle is considered as an separate factor influencing the interannual January–March variations of total ozone over Northeastern Europe. Linear correlation analysis and the running correlation method are used to examine possible connections between ozone and solar activity at simultaneous moment the QBO phase. Statistically significant correlations between the variations of total ozone in February and, partially, in March, and the sunspot numbers during the different phases of QBO are found. The running correlation method between the ozone and the equatorial zonal wind demonstrates a clear modulation of 11-y solar signal for February and March. Modulation is clearer if the QBO phases are defined at the level of 50 hPa rather than at 30 hPa. The same statistical analyses are conducted also for possible connections between the index of stratospheric circulation C₁ and sunspot numbers considering the QBO phase. Statistically significant connections are found for February. The running correlations between the index C₁ and the equatorial zonal wind show the clear modulation of 11-y solar signal for February and March. Based on the obtained correlations between the interannual variations of ozone and index C₁, it may be concluded that a connection between solar cycle – QBO – ozone occurs through the dynamics of stratospheric circulation.     

Dynamical effect of the zonal wind anomalies over the tropical western Pacific on ENSO cycles

The circulation and zonal wind anomalies in the lower troposphere over the equatorial western Pacific and their roles in the developing and decaying processes of the 1982–1983, 1986 –1987, 1991–1992 and 1997–1998 El Ni?o events and the occurrence of La Ni?a events are analyzed by using the observed data in this paper. The results show that before the developing stage of these El Ni?o events, there were cyclonic circulation anomalies in the lower troposphere over the tropical western Pacific, and the anomalies brought the westerly anomalies over the Indonesia and the tropical western Pacific. However, when the El Ni?o events developed to their mature phase, there were anticyclonic circulation anomalies in the lower troposphere over the tropical western Pacific, and the anomalies made the easterly anomalies appear over the tropical western Pacific. A simple, dynamical model of tropical ocean is used to calculate the response of the equatorial oceanic waves to the observed anomalies of wind stress near the sea surface of the equatorial Pacific during the 1997/98 ENSO cycle, which was the strongest one in the 20th century. It is shown that the zonal wind stress anomalies have an important dynamical effect on the devel-opment and decay of this El Ni?o event and the occurrence of the following La Ni?a event.     

Some effects of a mean zonal thermocline gradient on planetary equatorial waves

Planetary equatorial waves are studied with the shallow water equations in the presence of a mean zonal thermocline gradient. The interactions between this gradient and waves are represented by three non-linear terms in the equations: one in the wind-forcing formulation in the x-momentum equation, and two for the advection of mass and divergence of the velocity field in the continuity equation. When the mean gradient is imposed but small, these three (linearized) terms will perturb the behavior of the equatorial waves. This paper gives a simple analytic treatment of this problem.The equatorial Kelvin mode is first solved with all three contributions, using a Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin method. The Kelvin mode shows a spatial or/and temporal growth when the thermocline gradient is negative which is the usual situation in the equatorial Pacific ocean (deep thermocline in the west and shallow in the east). The more robust and efficient contribution comes from the advection term.The single effect of the advection of the mean zonal thermocline gradient is then studied for the Kelvin and planetary Rossby modes. The Kelvin mode remains unstable (damped), while the Rossby modes appear damped (unstable) for a negative (positive) thermocline gradient.     

Seasonal and solar cycle association of zonal drifts of ionospheric plasma irregularities in the Indian equatorial region

Long series of simultaneous VHF scintillation observations at two stations situated in near magnetic east-west direction in the vicinity of the dip equator in the Indian region have been employed to investigate the night-time ionospheric plasma zonal drifts. The drifts are found to be predominantly easterly. On comparing the magnitudes of the drifts with those results derived earlier by HF fading technique, monitoring signals from two satellites at a station and spaced receiver experiment, their associations with the season and the degree of solar activity are discussed. On a broader scale, the annual mean sunspot number is shown to have a direct control on the derived drift, the positive relationship even on day to day basis with the solar flux is established. However, the relationship, as understood by the slope of the best fit line, in the Indian region (0.27) is found to be weaker when compared with the similar slope (0.45) in the American sector. There appears to be no geomagnetic activity control on the estimated drifts.     

An empirical relation of daytime equatorial total electron content with equatorial electrojet in the Indian zone

The variability of Total Electron Content (TEC) at Trivandrum, located within equatorial anomaly region at the dip equator, with respect to a reference level derived from the TEC measurements at Shimla, located outside the region has been studied during low solar activity period. Chapman function is assumed to hold good for regions outside the anomaly extent. It shows that the difference of total measured TEC at the equator from the derived reference is highly correlated with equatorial electrojet. The observations conform to the previous investigations and are interpreted in light of established relations. A stochastic relationship with electrojet is derived and validated.     

GPS L-band scintillations and ionospheric irregularity zonal drifts inferred at equatorial and low-latitude regions

The main scientific objective of this research is to study the spatial variability and dynamics of the F-region irregularities. To achieve this, amplitude scintillations at the L-band, total electron content (TEC) and irregularity drifts were measured, as part of the Conjugate Point Equatorial Experiment (COPEX) campaign, by a network of ground-based global positioning system (GPS) receivers. The observations reveal a strong variability in the evolution of the irregularities from the equator to low-latitudes, and their zonal velocities at conjugate sites present a decrease with local time, and also with latitude. Moreover, the scintillations appear to be correlated with strong TEC gradients in the equatorward edge of the enhanced equatorial anomaly peaks. Other relevant aspects of the observations are highlighted and discussed.     

Short-time period fluctuations in the total ozone

The Toronto spectrophotometer was used to take an extensive series of ozone measurements for the period September 1971 to April 1972. As a result of these measurements it was found that short-lived variations of ozone occur which sometimes amount to more than 0.1 cm. These ozone disturbances are advected because the same disturbance has been observed on the direct sun and the zenith sky at different times. Results which show the general nature of these disturbances will be presented. Also, a discussion will be given which stresses the need for an automated, mesoscale ozone-measuring network, capable of measuring in all weather conditions during all daytime hours.     

Synoptic-scale fluctuations of total ozone in the atmosphere

A model, based on ozone-concentration tendency equation, is developed to study synoptic ozone-column variations. The application is referred to a middle-latitude site and to an atmospheric layer extending from the surface up to about 35-km altitude. Photochemical effects at the considered location for synoptic time scales are considered negligible. The data input consists of umkehr ozone profile, total ozone (obtained by Brewer No. 067, located at Rome) and horizontal wind at various levels. Analysis of several cases indicates that meridional advection is the main factor responsible for the observed synoptic-scale ozone fluctuations.     

Barotropic-Baroclinic instability of mean zonal wind during summer monsoon

Barotropic-Baroclinic instability of horizontally and vertically shearing mean monsoon flow during July is investigated numerically by using a 10-layer quasi-geostrophic model. The most unstable mode has a wavelength of about 3000 km and westward phase speed of about 15 m sec^–1. The most dominant energy conversion is from zonal kinetic energy to eddy kinetic energy. The structure of the most unstable mode is such that the maximum amplitude is concentrated at about 150 mb and the amplitude at the lowest layers is negligibly small. Barotropic instability of the zonal flow at 150 mb seems to be the primary excitation mechanism for the most unstable mode which is also similar to the observed westward propagating waves in the upper troposphere during the monsoon season. The results further suggest that Barotropic-Baroclinic instability of the mean monsoon flow cannot explain the occurrence of monsoon depressions which have their maximum amplitude at the lower levels and are rarely detected at 200 mb.     

The joint influence of the Coriolis force and the stratification on stationary motions in the zonal model of equatorial atmosphere

Summary In the framework of a zonal model of the equatorial atmosphere, the joint influence of the Coriolis force and stratification on stationary motion is studied. In addition we assume a Boussinesq approximation and consider the equatorial region as a macrodisturbance localized round the Equator, against a background of an isothermal atmosphere with a zonal distribution. Exact analytical solutions of the system of equations (1)–(5) are obtained and analyzed. An interesting result is that the equatorial atmosphere could exist in different stationary states in each of them separately, as well as in a number of them simultaneously.     

云顶以下臭氧对TOMS反演臭氧总量的影响及反演方法的理论研究

目前紫外后向散射反演臭氧总量的所有算法,都将云考虑成不透明的Lambertian反射体,并假定云顶有效反照率不随波长的变化而变化.然而本文通过模拟计算发现,由于云散射、瑞利散射、臭氧吸收三种作用的综合结果,云顶的有效反照率是与波长相关的,即使光学厚度比较大的云,辐射也可由云顶继续向下传输,因而会受到云顶以下臭氧吸收的影响.用V7方法进行反演,模拟计算结果表明：云的出现使得云顶以下,特别是云内光程增强,导致紫外波段的臭氧吸收衰减增大,所以反演出的臭氧总量值比真实值偏大,本文称这种现象为“云吸收效应”,并讨论了该效应的影响因子.最后,在辐射传输模拟的基础上建立一套反演算法,大大减弱了“云吸收效应”的影响.     

On the vertical ozone and wind profiles near the tropopause

Pure and Applied Geophysics -