Abstract
Abstract. A statistical analysis for the comparability of water (H2O) and ozone (O3) data sets sampled during the SPURT aircraft campaigns and the MOZAIC passenger aircraft flights is presented. The Kolmogoroff-Smirnoff test reveals that the distribution functions from SPURT and MOZAIC trace gases differ from each other with a confidence of 95%. A variance analysis shows a different variability character in both trace gas data sets. While the SPURT H2O data only contain atmospheric processes variable on a diurnal or synoptical timescale, MOZAIC H2O data also reveal processes, which vary on inter-seasonal and seasonal timescales. The SPURT H2O data set does not represent the full MOZAIC H2O variance in the UT/LS for climatological investigations, whereas the variance of O3 is much better represented. SPURT H2O data are better suited in the stratosphere, where the MOZAIC RH sensor looses its sensitivity.
Highlights
The composition of the tropopause region is strongly determined by large and small scale transports of trace gases
Are they really suited for a climatological investigation on a seasonal and annual timescale and do they represent the full atmospheric variability of trace gases in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/lower stratosphere (LS))? To answer this question we will investigate the comparability of trace gas mixing ratios observed during the limited number of flights in SPURT with
More than 50% of MOZAIC flights and more than 75% of SPURT flights are performed in the lower stratosphere, so data should allow an investigation of trace gases in the tropopause region (e.g., Thouret et al, 2006; Law et al, 1998) and of exchange processes between the troposphere and the stratosphere
Summary
Mixing of stratospheric and tropospheric air leads to a so-called mixing layer around the tropopause (Hoor et al, 2002) These processes result in a highly variable trace gas distribution in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UT/LS). A crucial question of this paper is on the representativeness of the limited SPURT data Are they really suited for a climatological investigation on a seasonal and annual timescale and do they represent the full atmospheric variability of trace gases in the UT/LS? To answer this question we will investigate the comparability of trace gas mixing ratios observed during the limited number of flights in SPURT with Those of the climatological data set obtained during the frequent MOZAIC flights. The analysis tools developed are not restricted to these particular data sets and are applicable for the comparison of different data sets, including model results, in a general sense
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