Abstract
Abstract. In the present study, we show evidence of significant stratospheric warming over Southern Hemisphere high latitudes and large portions of the Antarctic polar region in winter and spring seasons, with a maximum warming of 7–8°C in September and October, using satellite Microwave Sounding Unit observations for 1979–2006. It is found that this warming is associated with increasing wave activity from the troposphere into the stratosphere, suggesting that the warming is caused by enhanced wave-driven adiabatic heating. We show that the stratospheric warming in Southern Hemisphere high latitudes has close correlations with sea surface temperature (SST) increases, and that general circulation model simulations forced with observed time-varying SSTs reproduce similar warming trend patterns in the Antarctic stratosphere. The simulated stratospheric warming is closely related to increasing wave activity in the Southern Hemisphere. These findings suggest that the stratospheric warming is likely induced by SST warming. As SST warming continues as a consequence of greenhouse gas increases due to anthropogenic activity, the stratospheric warming would also continue, which has important implications to the recovery of the Antarctic ozone hole.
Highlights
In the last quarter of the 20th century, one of the most dramatic changes in the stratosphere is severe ozone depletion in the Antarctic spring, i.e., the so-called Antarctic ozone hole.Associated with severe ozone depletion, the Antarctic stratosphere has displayed strong cooling trends in spring and summer between the late 1970s and the late 1990s (Solomon, 1999; Randel and Wu, 1999; Thompson and Solomon, 2002)
We have shown that the Southern Hemisphere (SH) high-latitude stratosphere has been warming in winter and spring months since 1979
Results from Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) T4 data show that the maximum warming in the two months is as large as 7–8◦C over 1979–2006
Summary
In the last quarter of the 20th century, one of the most dramatic changes in the stratosphere is severe ozone depletion in the Antarctic spring, i.e., the so-called Antarctic ozone hole. Associated with severe ozone depletion, the Antarctic stratosphere has displayed strong cooling trends in spring and summer between the late 1970s and the late 1990s (Solomon, 1999; Randel and Wu, 1999; Thompson and Solomon, 2002). It was generally thought that the strong cooling in the Antarctic stratosphere is mainly due to the radiative effect of severe ozone depletion (Ramaswamy et al, 1996; Ramaswamy et al, 2001). Fu: Antarctic stratospheric warming temperature trends among satellite, radiosonde observations, and reanalysis datasets. We document strong stratospheric warming trends in SH high latitudes using both satellite data and reanalysis, and examine whether the warming is caused by increasing wave activity in the SH stratosphere.
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