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The measurement of trace gases through remote sounding techniques has led to a better understanding of the processes controlling the structure and variability of the stratosphere. Differences between measurements over space and time are due to atmospheric variability and instrument errors: thus, comparison of measurements can be used to test our knowledge of both. Comparisons of measurements over long time periods are used to identify trends. Balloon-borne infrared emission radiometer instruments have been used to make measurements of midlatitude stratospheric HNO3 spanning a period of twelve years. The timing of the measurements is notable, since they occur before and well after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which significantly perturbed HNO3 levels, complicating prior trend analyses. No significant differences are found between the HNO3 retrievals, although large measurement uncertainties preclude any conclusion concerning trends. Comparisons of measurements that are closely spaced in space and time are useful for satellite validation, where one aims to reduce the effect of atmospheric variability on the estimation of systematic and random errors. A novel technique for the estimation of systematic error, which differentiates between additive and multiplicative bias, is introduced. In a comparison of measurements by the ACE-FTS and Aura MLS instruments, significant multiplicative biases are identified and described. In order to validate the reported random errors (RREs) of measurements, satellite validation studies often focus on measurements in the tropical stratosphere, where variability is weak. The scatter in tropical measurements can then be used as an upper limit on instrument precision. In an analysis of tropical measurements by the ACE-FTS, scatter is found to be roughly consistent with the RREs for H2O and CO. The scatter in measurements of O3, HNO3, and N2O, while larger than the reported random errors, is roughly consistent with the variability simulated in the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model. This work implies that the random error of the ACE-FTS measurements is smaller than the weak natural variability of the tropical stratosphere.

The measurement of trace gases through remote sounding techniques has led to a better understanding of the processes controlling the structure and variability of the stratosphere. Differences between measurements over space and time are due to atmospheric variability and instrument errors: thus, comparison of measurements can be used to test our knowledge of both. Comparisons of measurements over long time periods are used to identify trends. Balloon-borne infrared emission radiometer instruments have been used to make measurements of midlatitude stratospheric HNO3 spanning a period of twelve years. The timing of the measurements is notable, since they occur before and well after the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, which significantly perturbed HNO3 levels, complicating prior trend analyses. No significant differences are found between the HNO3 retrievals, although large measurement uncertainties preclude any conclusion concerning trends. Comparisons of measurements that are closely spaced in space and time are useful for satellite validation, where one aims to reduce the effect of atmospheric variability on the estimation of systematic and random errors. A novel technique for the estimation of systematic error, which differentiates between additive and multiplicative bias, is introduced. In a comparison of measurements by the ACE-FTS and Aura MLS instruments, significant multiplicative biases are identified and described. In order to validate the reported random errors (RREs) of measurements, satellite validation studies often focus on measurements in the tropical stratosphere, where variability is weak. The scatter in tropical measurements can then be used as an upper limit on instrument precision. In an analysis of tropical measurements by the ACE-FTS, scatter is found to be roughly consistent with the RREs for H2O and CO. The scatter in measurements of O3, HNO3, and N2O, while larger than the reported random errors, is roughly consistent with the variability simulated in the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model. This work implies that the random error of the ACE-FTS measurements is smaller than the weak natural variability of the tropical stratosphere.

La découverte de nombreuses planètes extrasolaires depuis 1995 est une source d’inspiration pour les modèles de formation et évolution des systèmes solaires. Une fraction de ces planètes ont un demi-grand axe inférieur à 0.1 UA; une planète qui migre à proximité de son étoile subit donc d’abord un fort vent solaire et, après son entrée dans la magnétosphère stellaire, un fort champ magnétique. Nous étudions séparemment l’interaction entre ces planètes et la composante périodique et indépendente du temps du champ magnétique dipolaire stellaire. L’interaction périodique est associée à des courants induits confinés dans la planète. Nous étudions deux effets qui pourraient augmenter le moment angulaire d’une planète gaseuse géante qui migre vers son étoile: un torque de Lorentz qui transferre du moment angulaire de la rotation de l’étoile vers l’orbite de la planète et une perte de masse induite par la dissipation ohmique dans la planète qui peut donner du moment angulaire à la planète lorsque cette masse est accrétée sur l’étoile. Nous modellisons l’interaction indépendente du temps comme un modèle d’inducteur unipolaire, dans lequel le courant induit circule dans une boucle fermée formée par la planète, le flux de tube, et le pied du flux de tube dans l’atmosphère stellaire. Nous calculons de fa con cohérente la dissipation ohmique dans la planète et le pied du flux de tube ainsi que le couple de Lorentz. Nous utilisons alors ce modèle pour expliquer l’aspect enflé de certaines planètes géantes. Finalement, nous suggérons que ce modèle permettrait également d’estimer la conductivité électrique des super-Terres qui interagissent magnétiquement avec leur étoile. / The numerous and diverse extrasolar planets detected since 1995 provide much inspiration for planetary astrophysics. A fraction of these extrasolar planets orbit their host stars at semi-major axes less than 0.1 AU; a planet which has migrated toward its host star would thus first encounter a strong magnetized wind and, as it enters the stellar magnetosphere, strong magnetic fields. We model the interaction of such a close-in extrasolar planet with the dipolar magnetic field of its host star and study separately the time-dependent and independent components. The time-dependent interaction gives rise to Eddy currents confined in the planet. We investigate two effects that may transfer angular momentum to a planet approaching its host TTauri star through type II migration: a Lorentz torque that transfers angular momentum from the stellar spin to the planetary orbit and a mass loss induced by the ohmic dissipation in the planet, which may transfer angular momentum to the planet as the gas is accreted onto the star. We model the time-independent interaction with the unipolar inductor model, which allows the current induced in the planet to flow along a closed loop constituted by the planet, the flux tube, and its footprint on the stellar atmosphere. We self-consistently calculate the ohmic dissipation in the planet and the star and the associated Lorentz torque. We then suggest that the ohmic dissipation may provide the extra energy needed to explain some planets with inflated radii. Finally, we propose that the model may also be used to remotely infer the electric conductivity of the outer layers of super-Earths interacting magnetically with their host stars.