Abstract
In the stratosphere, turbulence is confined within shallow, localised patches. The resulting vertical mixing of tracers is highly intermittent and difficult to quantify. Here a new technique is employed to estimate from high‐resolution, lower stratospheric mid‐latitude balloon data a well‐defined vertical diffusivity associated with this mixing. The technique, which is based on a stochastic model of the distribution of turbulent patches, emphasises the dependence of the diffusivity on the typical patch lifetime. Assuming a lifetime of a few hours, the diffusivity is found to be in the range 0.01–0.02m²s−1. This value is an order of magnitude smaller than those previously derived from radar measurements. The potential of the technique for the analysis of ocean microstructure measurements is noted.
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