Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO

Major Stratospheric Sudden Warmings (SSWs) are characterized by a reversal of the zonal mean zonal wind and an anomalous warming in the polar stratosphere that proceeds downward to the lower stratosphere. In the tropical stratosphere, a downward propagating cooling is observed. However, the strong m...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Gómez-Escolar, M., Calvo, N., Barriopedro, David, Fueglistaler, S.
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/101934
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/101934
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Sudden stratospheric warmings
SSW
QBO
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spelling Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBOGómez-Escolar, M.Calvo, N.Barriopedro, DavidFueglistaler, S.Sudden stratospheric warmingsSSWQBOMajor Stratospheric Sudden Warmings (SSWs) are characterized by a reversal of the zonal mean zonal wind and an anomalous warming in the polar stratosphere that proceeds downward to the lower stratosphere. In the tropical stratosphere, a downward propagating cooling is observed. However, the strong modulation of tropical winds and temperatures by the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) renders accurate characterization of the tropical response to SSWs challenging. A novel metric based on temperature variations relative to the central date of the SSW using ERA-Interim data is presented. It filters most of the temperature structure related to the phase of the QBO and provides proper characterization of the SSW cooling amplitude and downward propagation tropical signal. Using this new metric, a large SSW-related cooling is detected in the tropical upper stratosphere that occurs almost simultaneously with the polar cap warming. The tropical cooling weakens as it propagates downward, reaching the lower stratosphere in a few days. Substantial differences are found in the response to SSWs depending on the QBO phase. Similar to what is observed in the polar stratosphere, tropical SSW-associated temperatures persist longer during the west QBO phase at levels above about 40 hPa, suggesting that the signal is mainly controlled by changes in the residual mean meridional circulation associated with SSWs. Conversely, in the lower stratosphere, around 50-70 hPa, enhanced cooling occurs only during QBO east phase. This behavior seems to be driven by anomalous subtropical wave breaking related to changes in the zero-wind line position with the QBO phase. Key Points New methodology to analyze SSW on the tropical stratosphere There are differences in the SSW tropical cooling according to QBO phase Zero-wind line position plays an important role in SSW tropical response ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Peer ReviewedAmerican Geophysical Union2014201420142014info:eu-repo/semantics/articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501http://hdl.handle.net/10261/101934reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSICinstname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)Ingléshttp://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020560info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessoai:digital.csic.es:10261/1019342026-05-22T06:33:51Z
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
title Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
spellingShingle Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
Gómez-Escolar, M.
Sudden stratospheric warmings
SSW
QBO
title_short Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
title_full Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
title_fullStr Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
title_full_unstemmed Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
title_sort Tropical response to stratospheric sudden warmings and its modulation by the QBO
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Gómez-Escolar, M.
Calvo, N.
Barriopedro, David
Fueglistaler, S.
author Gómez-Escolar, M.
author_facet Gómez-Escolar, M.
Calvo, N.
Barriopedro, David
Fueglistaler, S.
author_role author
author2 Calvo, N.
Barriopedro, David
Fueglistaler, S.
author2_role author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Sudden stratospheric warmings
SSW
QBO
topic Sudden stratospheric warmings
SSW
QBO
description Major Stratospheric Sudden Warmings (SSWs) are characterized by a reversal of the zonal mean zonal wind and an anomalous warming in the polar stratosphere that proceeds downward to the lower stratosphere. In the tropical stratosphere, a downward propagating cooling is observed. However, the strong modulation of tropical winds and temperatures by the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) renders accurate characterization of the tropical response to SSWs challenging. A novel metric based on temperature variations relative to the central date of the SSW using ERA-Interim data is presented. It filters most of the temperature structure related to the phase of the QBO and provides proper characterization of the SSW cooling amplitude and downward propagation tropical signal. Using this new metric, a large SSW-related cooling is detected in the tropical upper stratosphere that occurs almost simultaneously with the polar cap warming. The tropical cooling weakens as it propagates downward, reaching the lower stratosphere in a few days. Substantial differences are found in the response to SSWs depending on the QBO phase. Similar to what is observed in the polar stratosphere, tropical SSW-associated temperatures persist longer during the west QBO phase at levels above about 40 hPa, suggesting that the signal is mainly controlled by changes in the residual mean meridional circulation associated with SSWs. Conversely, in the lower stratosphere, around 50-70 hPa, enhanced cooling occurs only during QBO east phase. This behavior seems to be driven by anomalous subtropical wave breaking related to changes in the zero-wind line position with the QBO phase. Key Points New methodology to analyze SSW on the tropical stratosphere There are differences in the SSW tropical cooling according to QBO phase Zero-wind line position plays an important role in SSW tropical response ©2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.
publishDate 2014
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2014
2014
2014
2014
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
format article
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/10261/101934
url http://hdl.handle.net/10261/101934
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv Inglés
language_invalid_str_mv Inglés
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2013JD020560
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv American Geophysical Union
publisher.none.fl_str_mv American Geophysical Union
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
instname:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
instname_str Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
reponame_str DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
collection DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
repository.name.fl_str_mv
repository.mail.fl_str_mv
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score 15,81155

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