Search results for "Anticyclone"

Trace gas composition in the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone: a case study based on aircraft observations and model simulations

2017

We present in situ measurements of the trace gas composition of the upper tropospheric (UT) Asian summer monsoon anticyclone (ASMA) performed with the High Altitude and Long Range Research Aircraft (HALO) in the frame of the Earth System Model Validation (ESMVal) campaign. Air masses with enhanced O3 mixing ratios were encountered after entering the ASMA at its southern edge at about 150 hPa on 18 September 2012. This is in contrast to the presumption that the anticyclone's interior is dominated by recently uplifted air with low O3 in the monsoon season. We also observed enhanced CO and HCl in the ASMA, which are tracers for boundary layer pollution and tropopause layer (TL) air or stratosp…

2018

Abstract. This study places HALO research aircraft observations in the upper-tropospheric Asian summer monsoon anticyclone (ASMA) into the context of regional, intra-annual variability by hindcasts with the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model. The observations were obtained during the Earth System Model Validation (ESMVal) campaign in September 2012. Observed and simulated tracer–tracer relations reflect photochemical O3 production as well as in-mixing from the lower troposphere and the tropopause layer. The simulations demonstrate that tropospheric trace gas profiles in the monsoon season are distinct from those in the rest of the year, and the measurements reflect the main proc…

Modeling the aerosol chemical composition of the tropopause over the Tibetan Plateau during the Asian summer monsoon

2019

Enhanced aerosol abundance in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) associated with the Asian summer monsoon (ASM) is referred to as the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL). The chemical composition, microphysical properties, and climate effects of aerosols in the ATAL have been the subject of discussion over the past decade. In this work, we use the ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) general circulation model at a relatively fine grid resolution (about 1.1×1.1∘) to numerically simulate the emissions, chemistry, and transport of aerosols and their precursors in the UTLS within the ASM anticyclone during the years 2010–2012. We find a pronounced maximum of aerosol extin…

Analysis of a severe pollution episode in Valencia (Spain) and its effect on ground level particulate matter

2013

Abstract This study analyzes the atmospheric particles concentration at ground level during a severe pollution event that took place in Valencia (Spain) from 7 to 12 February 2011. The episode was related to a subtropical anticyclone system that affected the Iberian Peninsula and western Europe. The dominant anticyclone imposed an extended low gradient pressure system and a low mixing layer height in the region that caused the accumulation of pollutants over the western Mediterranean. Moreover, the stagnant conditions led to the formation of the local sea breeze, accompanied by an increase of relative humidity and the decrease of ambient temperature. Our study is mainly focused on the analy…

Winter “weekend effect” in southern Europe and its connections with periodicities in atmospheric dynamics

2008

[1] Winter weekly cycles of different climatic variables have been detected over Spain during the 1961–2004 period. The 13 analyzed series come from stations placed on different climatological and geographical areas with different level of urban influence. Therefore, the weekly cycles can hardly be related with local effects. Contrarily, we suggest that the weekly cycles may be related with changes in the atmospheric circulation over Western Europe, which may be due to some indirect effect of anthropogenic aerosols. Particularly interesting is the observed increase in Sea Level Pressure over Southern Europe during the weekends and consequently a decrease of anticyclonic conditions during th…

Relationship of Weather Types on the Seasonal and Spatial Variability of Rainfall, Runoff, and Sediment Yield in the Western Mediterranean Basin

2020

Producción Científica

The Static Stability of the Tropopause Region in Adiabatic Baroclinic Life Cycle Experiments

2011

Abstract The tropopause inversion layer (TIL) is a region of enhanced static stability just above the WMO-defined thermal tropopause. It is a ubiquitous feature in midlatitudes and is well characterized by observations. However, it is still lacking a satisfactory theoretical explanation. This study utilizes adiabatic baroclinic life cycle experiments to investigate dynamical mechanisms that lead to TIL formation. As the baroclinic wave grows, a strong TIL forms above anticyclonic anomalies, while no TIL is found above cyclonic anomalies; this is consistent with previous results. However, during the early growth phase there is no TIL in the global or zonal average: positive and negative anom…

In situ observations of CH<sub>2</sub>Cl<sub>2</sub> and CHCl<sub>3</sub…

2021

Abstract. Efficient transport pathways for ozone-depleting very short-lived substances (VSLSs) from their source regions into the stratosphere are a matter of current scientific debate; however they have yet to be fully identified on an observational basis. Understanding the increasing impact of chlorine-containing VSLSs (Cl-VSLSs) on stratospheric ozone depletion is important in order to validate and improve model simulations and future predictions. We report on a transport study using airborne in situ measurements of the Cl-VSLSs dichloromethane (CH2Cl2) and trichloromethane (chloroform, CHCl3) to derive a detailed description of two transport pathways from (sub)tropical source regions in…

Resolution Dependence of the Tropopause Inversion Layer in an Idealized Model for Upper-Tropospheric Anticyclones

2009

Abstract This note investigates the dependence of the extratropical tropopause inversion layer (TIL) on numerical resolution in an idealized modeling framework. Axisymmetric upper-tropospheric anticyclones are constructed by specifying potential vorticity (PV) and solving the nonlinear PV-inversion problem. The PV distribution has a smooth but near-discontinuous change of PV across the tropopause in a transition zone with vertical depth δ. For fixed δ the strength of the TIL changes with changing resolution until the transition zone is resolved by a fairly large number of grid points. The quality-controlled numerical solutions are used to study the behavior for δ → 0. This limit can lead to…

The ATAL within the 2017 Asian Monsoon Anticyclone: Microphysical aerosol properties derived from aircraft-borne in situ measurements

2021

Abstract. The Asian summer monsoon is an effective pathway for aerosol particles and precursor substances from the planetary boundary layer over Central, South, and East Asia into the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. An enhancement of aerosol particles within the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA) has been observed by satellites, called the Asian Tropopause Aerosol Layer (ATAL). In this paper we discuss airborne in situ and remote sensing observations of aerosol microphysical properties conducted during the 2017 StratoClim field campaign within the region of the Asian monsoon anticyclone. The aerosol particle measurements aboard the high-altitude research aircraft M55 Geophysica (reac…