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UPWELLING INTO THE LOWER STRATOSPHERE & TROPICAL WAVE BREAKING: EVIDENCE FROM CHEMICAL TRACERS

We use 2005 - 2010 measurements from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) instrument
to calculate the deseasonalized anomalies of tropical mean water vapor (H2O), carbon
monoxide (CO), and nitrous oxide (N2O) on the 68 hPa surface. We then calculate
the spatial maps of the coherence between the tropical mean tracer measurements and
reanalysis temperature on the 100 hPa surface, in both the subseasonal and multiyear time
windows. In the multiyear time window, the spatial pattern of the coherence, and the time
lags, indicate that fluctuations in 100 hPa temperature affect 68 hPa H2O through changes
in dehydration efficiency. In the subseasonal time window, the coherence between 100
hPa temperature and 68 hPa H2O is mediated through changes in upwelling driven by the
dissipation of tropical Rossby waves. On subseasonal timescales, the 68 hPa anomalies in
tropical mean CO are strongly coherent with the Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO).

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:NSHD.ca#10222/15436
Date16 August 2012
CreatorsEngida, Zelalem
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
Languageen_US
Detected LanguageEnglish

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