Abstract
The influence of the quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) on the tropopause pressure and temperature is studied through the application of the multitaper‐singular value decomposition method (MTM‐SVD). Reanalysis data (ERA‐40) from the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and radiosonde data from the Integrated Global Radiosonde Archive (IGRA) covering the period 1979–1999 are used. The results show a strong response of the height and temperature of the tropopause to the QBO not limited to the equatorial latitudes but affecting the entire Northern Hemisphere. A cooling (warming) of the tropopause temperature over polar (equatorial) latitudes during a QBO positive phase is observed, being particularly noticeable over polar latitudes. The anomalies in the tropopause height confirm these results, with the tropopause being at higher (lower) levels in polar (equatorial) latitudes during QBO positive phase. Results for the QBO negative phase are of opposite sign. We also found that the results obtained using raw radiosonde data and reanalysis are in very good agreement. Finally, the evolution of the mass stream function through a QBO cycle is used to justify the differences observed in the evolution of the tropopause characteristics at low and high latitudes through the QBO cycle.
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