A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

Spang, Reinhold; Hoffmann, Lars; Müller, Rolf; Grooß, Jens‐Uwe; Tritscher, Ines; Höpfner, Michael; Pitts, Mıchael; Orr, Andrew; Riese, Martin

doi:10.5194/acp-18-5089-2018

Cited by 57 publications

(99 citation statements)

References 85 publications

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“…During the Arctic winter 2010/2011, the overall PSC occurrence frequency and area were exceptional for an Arctic winter as was shown by Manney et al (2011) and confirmed in a recent study by Spang et al (2018). The peak values of PSC area (in square kilometres) reached sizes comparable to June conditions in the Antarctic.…”

Section: Arctic Winter 2009/2010supporting

confidence: 73%

Comparison of ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) simulations of the Arctic winter 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 with Envisat/MIPAS and Aura/MLS observations

et al. 2018

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Abstract. We present model simulations with the atmospheric chemistry-climate model ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) nudged toward European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) ERAInterim reanalyses for the Arctic winters 2009/2010 and 2010/2011. This study is the first to perform an extensive assessment of the performance of the EMAC model for Arctic winters as previous studies have only made limited evaluations of EMAC simulations which also were mainly focused on the Antarctic winter stratosphere. We have chosen the two extreme Arctic winters 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 to evaluate the formation of polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) and the representation of the chemistry and dynamics of the polar winter stratosphere in EMAC. The EMAC simulations are compared to observations by the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Soundings (Envisat/MIPAS) and the observations from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (Aura/MLS). The Arctic winter 2010/2011 was one of the coldest stratospheric winters on record, leading to the strongest depletion of ozone measured in the Arctic. The Arctic winter 2009/2010 was, from the climatological perspective, one of the warmest stratospheric winters on record. However, it was distinguished by an exceptionally cold stratosphere (colder than the climatological mean) from mid-December 2009 to mid-January 2010, leading to prolonged PSC formation and existence. Significant denitrification, the removal of HNO 3 from the stratosphere by sedimentation of HNO 3 -containing polar stratospheric cloud particles, occurred in that winter. In our comparison, we focus on PSC formation and denitrification. The comparisons between EMAC simulations and satellite observations show that model and measurements compare well for these two Arctic winters (differences for HNO 3 generally within ±20 %) and thus that EMAC nudged toward ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalyses is capable of giving a realistic representation of the evolution of PSCs and associated sequestration of gas-phase HNO 3 in the polar winter stratosphere. However, simulated PSC volume densities are smaller than the ones derived from Envisat/MIPAS observations by a factor of 3-7. Further, PSCs in EMAC are not simulated as high up (in altitude) as they are observed. This underestimation of PSC volume density and vertical extension of the PSCs results in an underestimation of the vertical redistribution of HNO 3 due to denitrification/re-nitrification. The differences found here between model simulations and observations stipulate further improvements in the EMAC set-up for simulating PSCs.

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Section: Arctic Winter 2009/2010supporting

confidence: 73%

Comparison of ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) simulations of the Arctic winter 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 with Envisat/MIPAS and Aura/MLS observations

et al. 2018

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“…CALIPSO flies in a 98 • inclination orbit at an altitude of 705 km as part of the NASA A-train satellite constellation (Stephens et al, 2002), along with the Aqua, Aura, CloudSat, and Orbiting Carbon Observatory 2 (OCO-2) satellites. Although PSC studies are not a primary mission objective, CALIPSO is an ideal platform for studying polar processes, collecting data along 14-15 orbits per day with coverage from 82 • S to 82 • N latitude on each orbit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Polar stratospheric cloud climatology based on CALIPSO spaceborne lidar measurements from 2006 to 2017

2018

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Abstract. The Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) on the CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) satellite has been observing polar stratospheric clouds (PSCs) from mid-June 2006 until the present. The spaceborne lidar profiles PSCs with unprecedented spatial (5 km horizontal × 180 m vertical) resolution and its dual-polarization capability enables classification of PSCs according to composition. Nearly coincident Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements of the primary PSC condensables (HNO 3 and H 2 O) provide additional constraints on particle composition. A new CALIOP version 2 (v2) PSC detection and composition classification algorithm has been implemented that corrects known deficiencies in previous algorithms and includes additional refinements to improve composition discrimination. Major v2 enhancements include dynamic adjustment of composition boundaries to account for effects of denitrification and dehydration, explicit use of measurement uncertainties, addition of composition confidence indices, and retrieval of particulate backscatter, which enables simplified estimates of particulate surface area density (SAD) and volume density (VD). The over 11 years of CALIOP PSC observations in each v2 composition class conform to their expected thermodynamic existence regimes, which is consistent with previous analyses of data from 2006 to 2011 and underscores the robustness of the v2 composition discrimination approach.The v2 algorithm has been applied to the CALIOP dataset to produce a PSC reference data record spanning the 2006-2017 time period, which is the foundation for a new comprehensive, high-resolution climatology of PSC occurrence and composition for both the Antarctic and Arctic. Time series of daily-averaged, vortex-wide PSC areal coverage versus altitude illustrate that Antarctic PSC seasons are similar from year to year, with about 25 % relative standard deviation in Antarctic PSC spatial volume at the peak of the season in July and August. Multi-year average, monthly zonal mean cross sections depict the climatological patterns of Antarctic PSC occurrence in latitude-altitude and also equivalent-latitudepotential-temperature coordinate systems, with the latter system better capturing the microphysical processes controlling PSC existence. Polar maps of the multi-year mean geographical patterns in PSC occurrence frequency show a climatological maximum between longitudes 90 • W and 0 • , which is the preferential region for forcing by orography and upper tropospheric anticyclones. The climatological mean distributions of particulate SAD and VD also show maxima in this region due to the large enhancements from the frequent ice clouds.Stronger wave activity in the Northern Hemisphere leads to a more disturbed Arctic polar vortex, whose evolution and lifetime vary significantly from year to year. Accordingly, Arctic PSC areal coverage is distinct from year to year with no "typical" year, and the relative standard deviation in Arctic PSC sp...

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“…Finally, NAT and ice particle surface areas are calculated 10 within the CLaMS sedimentation module and now also transfered to and used within the chemistry module. First applications are shown in a paper by Grooß et al (2018).…”

Section: Sedimentation Modulementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spang et al (2016) introduced 25 the methodology of the Bayesian Classifier (v1.2.8) for PSC cloud types. The classification method has been applied to the complete MIPAS data set (Spang et al, 2018).…”

Section: Mipasmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lagrangian simulation of ice particles and resulting dehydration in the polar winter stratosphere

Tritscher¹,

Grooß²,

Spang³

et al. 2018

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A climatology of polar stratospheric cloud composition between 2002 and 2012 based on MIPAS/Envisat observations

Cited by 57 publications

References 85 publications

Comparison of ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) simulations of the Arctic winter 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 with Envisat/MIPAS and Aura/MLS observations

Comparison of ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) simulations of the Arctic winter 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 with Envisat/MIPAS and Aura/MLS observations

Polar stratospheric cloud climatology based on CALIPSO spaceborne lidar measurements from 2006 to 2017

Lagrangian simulation of ice particles and resulting dehydration in the polar winter stratosphere

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