The evolution of Pinatubo aerosols in the Arctic stratosphere during 1994–2000

Balloon-borne aerosol measurements were performed with an optical particle counter between 1994 and 2000 at Ny-Ålesund (79°N), Svarbard. Throughout the observation period, continuous decay was found in the concentrations of particles with 0.4–0.6 μm in radius in the Arctic stratosphere, suggesting that Pinatubo aerosols remained even at the end of the 1990s. The decay rate was clearly higher for larger particle sizes, and higher at higher altitude (e-folding time of 970–526 days), suggesting a gravitational sedimentation effect. For smaller particles with R<0.4 μm, slight increases in concentration with time were found, which agreed with the measurements at mid-latitude. The sulfate mass mixing ratio in the Arctic stratosphere before 1998 showed values higher than those at middle latitude, while values were almost the same in both regions after 1998. A possible explanation of the latitudinal difference is a time lag (of 0.5–1 year) in the arrival of Pinatubo aerosols in the Arctic.     

Pan over the Arctic; Observations during AGASP-2 in April 1986

During three of the flights with the NOAA P3 Orion over the Arctic icecap in April 1986, the atmospheric concentration of PAN (peroxyacetyl nitrate) was measured. Due to major experimental problems, the uncertainty in the data is large (+/–50%), but, nevertheless, some important trends can be resolved. More than 600 (+/–300) ppt(v) of PAN was present in a moderately dense arctic haze layer, confirming conclusions reached from surface observations at Alert, N.W.T., Canada, that PAN is a major odd nitrogen species in Arctic polluted air masses. In relatively clean air off Barrow, Alaska, PAN levels were well below 100 (+/–50) ppt(v), increasing with altitude, in agreement with theoretical predictions concerning the occurrence of PAN in clean air. PAN mixing ratios in the upper troposphere or lower stratosphere were variable (from ca. 30 (+/–15) ppt(v) on April 13 up to 140 (+/–70) ppt(v) on April 8), suggesting involvement in the tropospheric-stratospheric exchange of odd nitrogen. To place the PAN data in a broader context, measurements of other NO_y compounds as well as integrated SO_x data are also reported.     

Dust mobilization and transport in the northern Sahara during SAMUM 2006 – a meteorological overview

The SAMUM field campaign in southern Morocco in May/June 2006 provides valuable data to study the emission, and the horizontal and vertical transports of mineral dust in the Northern Sahara. Radiosonde and lidar observations show differential advection of air masses with different characteristics during stable nighttime conditions and up to 5-km deep vertical mixing in the strongly convective boundary layer during the day. Lagrangian and synoptic analyses of selected dust periods point to a topographic channel from western Tunisia to central Algeria as a dust source region. Significant emission events are related to cold surges from the Mediterranean in association with eastward passing upper-level waves and lee cyclogeneses south of the Atlas Mountains. Other relevant events are local emissions under a distinct cut-off low over northwestern Africa and gust fronts associated with dry thunderstorms over the Malian and Algerian Sahara. The latter are badly represented in analyses from the European Centre for Medium–Range Weather Forecasts and in a regional dust model, most likely due to problems with moist convective dynamics and a lack of observations in this region. This aspect needs further study. The meteorological source identification is consistent with estimates of optical and mineralogical properties of dust samples.     

2015/2016超强El Nio对中国南方冬春季降水的影响分析

利用1981—2016年的中国160站降水资料、OISST海温资料和NCEP/NCAR大气环流资料,对比分析了中等强度El Nio和2015/2016超强El Nio对中国东南部、江淮流域和西南地区冬春季降水影响的异同。结果表明:在中等强度El Nio的冬季,偏暖的赤道中东太平洋海表面温度(Sea Surface Temperature,SST)所激发的西北太平洋和日本附近的异常反气旋环流,其异常的西南风会加强南海—西北太平洋的水汽向中国东部输送,造成中国东南部和江淮流域的降水一致偏多。2015/2016超强El Nio的冬季,赤道中东太平洋SST的强度异常偏强,中国东部异常偏冷的表面气温和对流层低层温度加强大陆冷高压,长江流域及其以北地区受异常强的北风控制,从而造成中国东南部降水增多、江淮流域降水减少。在2015/2016超强El Nio事件衰减位相的春季,中国东南部和西南部降水的增加主要归因于异常偏暖的西北印度洋和东南印度洋SST的作用。经CAM5模式试验证明,西北印度洋异常偏暖的SST引起了北印度洋的异常西南风,激发了孟加拉湾—西北太平洋的异常反气旋,加强了印度洋和南海—西北太平洋的水汽向中国西南和东南部输送。此外,东南印度洋异常偏暖的SST还会激发局地异常上升运动,通过经向垂直环流加强南海—西北太平洋异常下沉运动,诱使中国东南部的上升运动加强,导致降水增多。     

EARLINET observations of the 14–22-May long-range dust transport event during SAMUM 2006: validation of results from dust transport modelling

We observed a long-range transport event of mineral dust from North Africa to South Europe during the Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment (SAMUM) 2006. Geometrical and optical properties of that dust plume were determined with Sun photometer of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) and Raman lidar near the North African source region, and with Sun photometers of AERONET and lidars of the European Aerosol Research Lidar Network (EARLINET) in the far field in Europe. Extinction-to-backscatter ratios of the dust plume over Morocco and Southern Europe do not differ. Ångström exponents increase with distance from Morocco. We simulated the transport, and geometrical and optical properties of the dust plume with a dust transport model. The model results and the experimental data show similar times regarding the appearance of the dust plume over each EARLINET site. Dust optical depth from the model agrees in most cases to particle optical depth measured with the Sun photometers. The vertical distribution of the mineral dust could be satisfactorily reproduced, if we use as benchmark the extinction profiles measured with lidar. In some cases we find differences. We assume that insufficient vertical resolution of the dust plume in the model calculations is one reason for these deviations.     

The role of equatorial waves in the onset of the South China Sea summer monsoon and the demise of El Niño during 1998

The observed sequence of events leading to the onset of the summer monsoon in the South China Sea (SCS) is described, with a particular focus on conditions during the South China Sea monsoon experiment (SCSMEX) in May–June 1998. During SCSMEX, SCS monsoon onset occurred within the context of a multitude of scale interactions within the ocean-atmosphere system on intraseasonal time scales. Results from the 1998 SCSMEX case study illustrate that SCS monsoon onset is preceded by the development of an eastward-propagating Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in the Indian Ocean, as suggested by previous authors, and the subsequent emanation of a convectively coupled Kelvin wave into the Pacific. Remarkably similar results are obtained in an independent composite of 25 years of data. Since both the MJO and Kelvin waves generate westerly surface winds in their wake, it is suggested that these waves may accelerate or trigger the monsoon onset process in the southern SCS. A detailed analysis of the Kelvin wave that propagated through the SCS during SCSMEX shows that it was responsible for a large portion of the surface wind shift leading to monsoon onset in 1998. Finally, easterly wind anomalies in the eastern Pacific associated with the Indian Ocean MJO event during the SCSMEX period are shown to result in the sudden demise of the 1997–1998 El Niño event.