TY - JOUR
T1 - A minor sudden stratospheric warming with a major impact
T2 - Transport and polar processing in the 2014/2015 Arctic winter
AU - Manney, Gloria L.
AU - Lawrence, Zachary D.
AU - Santee, Michelle L.
AU - Read, William G.
AU - Livesey, Nathaniel J.
AU - Lambert, Alyn
AU - Froidevaux, Lucien
AU - Pumphrey, Hugh C.
AU - Schwartz, Michael J.
PY - 2015/9/28
Y1 - 2015/9/28
N2 - Stratospheric transport and polar processing during the 2014/2015 Arctic winter were strongly influenced by a minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in early January. Disturbances to temperatures and trace gases in the middle and upper stratosphere were similar in character to those associated with major SSWs: The stratopause dropped, and vertical temperature gradients weakened, followed by renewed descent of mesospheric air. The lower stratospheric polar vortex was barely disrupted and remained unusually strong throughout the winter. The SSW did, however, cause lower stratospheric temperatures to rise well above chlorine activation thresholds; trace gas abundances from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) were consequently exceptional. The degree of chlorine activation in January was the smallest, and lower stratospheric ozone values in February were the highest, in the 11 year MLS record. The major role played by a minor SSW highlights the Arctic stratosphere's sensitivity to a spectrum of dynamical variability.
AB - Stratospheric transport and polar processing during the 2014/2015 Arctic winter were strongly influenced by a minor sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) in early January. Disturbances to temperatures and trace gases in the middle and upper stratosphere were similar in character to those associated with major SSWs: The stratopause dropped, and vertical temperature gradients weakened, followed by renewed descent of mesospheric air. The lower stratospheric polar vortex was barely disrupted and remained unusually strong throughout the winter. The SSW did, however, cause lower stratospheric temperatures to rise well above chlorine activation thresholds; trace gas abundances from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) were consequently exceptional. The degree of chlorine activation in January was the smallest, and lower stratospheric ozone values in February were the highest, in the 11 year MLS record. The major role played by a minor SSW highlights the Arctic stratosphere's sensitivity to a spectrum of dynamical variability.
KW - Arctic ozone
KW - satellite data
KW - stratospheric sudden warming
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84945206814&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1002/2015GL065864
DO - 10.1002/2015GL065864
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84945206814
SN - 0094-8276
VL - 42
SP - 7808
EP - 7816
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
IS - 18
ER -