Observational characteristics of the tropopause inversion layer derived from CHMAP/GRACE radio occultations and MOZAIC aircraft data

Schmidt, T.; Cammas, J.-P.; Heise, S.; Wickert, J.; Smit, H.G.J.; Haser, A.

doi:10.1029/2010JD014284

Journal Article

PreJuSER-20621

Observational characteristics of the tropopause inversion layer derived from CHMAP/GRACE radio occultations and MOZAIC aircraft data

Schmidt, T. ; Cammas, J.-P. ; Smit, H. G. J.FZJ* ; Heise, S. ; Wickert, J. ; Haser, A.

2010
Union Washington, DC

Journal of Geophysical Research 115, D24304 (2010) [10.1029/2010JD014284]

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Please use a persistent id in citations: http://hdl.handle.net/2128/20904 doi:10.1029/2010JD014284

Abstract: In this study we discuss characteristics of the Northern Hemisphere (NH) midlatitude (40 degrees N-60 degrees N) tropopause inversion layer (TIL) based on two data sets. First, temperature measurements from GPS radio occultation data (CHAMP and GRACE) for the time interval 2001-2009 are used to exhibit seasonal properties of the TIL bottom height defined here as the height of the squared buoyancy frequency minimum N-2 below the thermal tropopause, the TIL maximum height as the height of the N-2 maximum above the tropopause, and the TIL top height as the height of the temperature maximum above the tropopause. Mean values of the TIL bottom, TIL maximum, and TIL top heights relative to the thermal tropopause for the NH midlatitudes are (-2.08 +/- 0.35) km, (0.52 +/- 0.10) km and (2.10 +/- 0.23) km, respectively. A seasonal cycle of the TIL bottom and TIL top height is observed with values closer to the thermal tropopause during summer. Secondly, high-resolution temperature and trace gas profile measurements on board commercial aircrafts (Measurement of Ozone and Water Vapor by Airbus In-Service Aircraft (MOZAIC) program) from 2001-2008 for the NH midlatitude (40 degrees N-60 degrees N) region are used to characterize the TIL as a mixing layer around the tropopause. Mean TIL bottom, TIL maximum, and TIL top heights based on the MOZAIC temperature (N-2) measurements confirm the results from the GPS data, even though most of the MOZAIC profiles used here are available under cyclonic situations. Further, we demonstrate that the mixing ratio gradients of ozone (O-3) and carbon monoxide (CO) are suitable parameters for characterizing the TIL structure.

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Meteorology & Atmospheric Sciences

Note: The authors would like to thank the other members of the CHAMP and GRACE team at GFZ Potsdam working with RO data and providing the orbits. The authors acknowledge the strong support of the European Commission, Airbus, and the airlines (Lufthansa, Austrian, Air France, and Air Namibia) that carry free of charge the MOZAIC equipment and have performed the maintenance since 1994. MOZAIC is presently funded by INSU-CNRS (France), Meteo-France, and Research Centre Julich (Germany). The MOZAIC database is supported by ETHER (CNES and INSU-CNRS). Further, the authors thank ECMWF for the provision of operational ananlyses and the ERA interim data. Finally, the authors thank the three anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions which helped to improve the article.

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