Hemispheric Differences in the Temperature of the Summertime Stratosphere and Mesosphere

Details Hemispheric Differences in the Temperature of the Summertime Stratosphere and Mesosphere Hemispheric Differences in the Temperature of the Summertime Stratosphere and Mesosphere

May 2002

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agusmsa21a..07s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2002, abstract #SA21A-07

Physics

3332 Mesospheric Dynamics, 3334 Middle Atmosphere Dynamics (0341, 0342), 3362 Stratosphere/Troposphere Interactions

Scientific paper

We study two processes which may govern interhemispheric differences in the temperature of the summertime middle atmosphere. The first is the direct radiative effect arising from the eccentricity of the earth's orbit. The second factor is the difference in gravity wave filtering due to the difference in the summertime mean winds of the troposphere and lower stratosphere. Using two different gravity wave drag parameterizations and a zonal wind climatology, we find greater gravity wave induced acceleration on the zonal flow in the southern summer lower stratosphere which coincides with weaker gravity wave drag in the southern upper mesosphere. The greater lower stratospheric acceleration implies a small net heating while the weaker upper mesospheric drag implies less cooling. Using a two dimensional chemical dynamical model we evaluate the temperature changes caused by these drag differences and compare them with those from the direct radiative asymmetry. The radiative effect peaks in the upper stratosphere, but is non negligible between 20-80 km. The dynamical effect has a primary effect in the upper mesosphere and a secondary effect in the lower stratosphere. Overall, our results support the idea that poleward of 30 degrees, the southern middle atmosphere is warmer than the northern by 3-8 K between 20 and 85 km. As a result, our model suggests that the relative humidity of the NH summer mesopause region is greater than in the SH. This implies that mesospheric clouds (PMCs and NLCs) should be more frequent and more extensive in the NH than in the SH.

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