Mean circulation and transport of trace species in the polar winter middle atmosphere (Invited)

Details Mean circulation and transport of trace species in the polar winter middle atmosphere (Invited) Mean circulation and transport of trace species in the polar winter middle atmosphere (Invited)

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsa23b..07s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SA23B-07

Physics

[0341] Atmospheric Composition And Structure / Middle Atmosphere: Constituent Transport And Chemistry, [3332] Atmospheric Processes / Mesospheric Dynamics

Scientific paper

Observations have shown that air in the high latitude winter middle atmosphere can have high concentrations of gases with thermospheric origin, such as NO and CO. NO is particularly a concern because of its potential to destroy stratospheric ozone. We investigate the transport into this region and its hemispheric and interannual variability using the NCAR Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). Trajectories of air parcels following the Transformed Eulerian Mean circulation illustrate the transport by the circulation. The meridional flow, driven primarily by breaking and dissipating gravity waves, is strongest around 85-95 km, although it varies on seasonal and interannual timescales. On average in the winter hemisphere, the vertical flow is downward below this altitude and upward above. Air parcels transported downward near the pole most commonly originate from low or middle latitudes in the upper mesosphere. Periods of downward transport from the thermosphere into the lower mesosphere also occur in the model. A characterization of the origins of the air parcels and their response to variable middle atmosphere dynamics is important for assessing and predicting the injection of high quantities of NO into the middle atmosphere.

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