On the representation of major stratospheric warmings in reanalyses
<p>Major sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) represent one of the most abrupt phenomena of the boreal wintertime stratospheric variability, and constitute the clearest example of coupling between the stratosphere and the troposphere. A good representation of SSWs in climate models is required...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2019-07-01
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| Series: | Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
| Online Access: | https://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/19/9469/2019/acp-19-9469-2019.pdf |
| Summary: | <p>Major sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) represent one
of the most abrupt phenomena of the boreal wintertime stratospheric
variability, and constitute the clearest example of coupling between the
stratosphere and the troposphere. A good representation of SSWs in climate
models is required to reduce their biases and uncertainties in future
projections of stratospheric variability. The ability of models to reproduce
these phenomena is usually assessed with just one reanalysis. However, the
number of reanalyses has increased in the last decade and their own biases
may affect the model evaluation.</p>
<p>Here we compare the representation of the main aspects of SSWs across
reanalyses. The examination of their main characteristics in the pre- and
post-satellite periods reveals that reanalyses behave very similarly in both
periods. However, discrepancies are larger in the pre-satellite period compared to
afterwards, particularly for the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis. All datasets
reproduce similarly the specific features of wavenumber-1 and wavenumber-2
SSWs. A good agreement among reanalyses is also found for triggering
mechanisms, tropospheric precursors, and surface response. In particular,
differences in blocking precursor activity of SSWs across reanalyses are
much smaller than between blocking definitions.</p> |
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| ISSN: | 1680-7316 1680-7324 |