US EPA

53589 

Journal Article 

Signatures of tropopause folding in satellite imagery 

Wimmers, AJ; Moody, JL; Browell, EV; Hair, JW; Grant, WB; Butler, CF; Fenn, MA; Schmidt, CC; Li, J; Ridley, BA 

2003 

Yes 

Journal of Geophysical Research
ISSN: 0148-0227
EISSN: 2156-2202 

108D4 

D4 

8360 

English 

10.1029/2001JD001358 

WOS:000182897800003 

A satellite-based conceptual picture of the stratospheric contribution to the spring ozone peak is presented through a survey of flight measurements and satellite imagery from the Tropospheric Ozone Production about the Spring Equinox (TOPSE) program. We address the stratospheric contribution through the process of tropopause folding across airmass boundaries (the arctic and polar tropopause break) in the polar and midlatitude upper troposphere. These boundaries and the boundaries of their related outgrowing streamers are easily identifiable as sharp gradients in the altered water vapor (AWV) imagery, a linear modification of the GOES water vapor channel that represents upper tropospheric specific humidity. The close relationship between altered brightness temperature and total ozone (from the Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and the GOES sounder) along this gradient confirms the utility of AWV imagery in detecting the tropopause break. Transects constructed from aircraft lidar and in situ observations of ozone illustrate the existence of tropopause folding along the AWV gradient. Ten out of ten available transects during the February to May study period show tropopause folding where indicated by the satellite imagery. This is strong evidence that folding is ubiquitous across the polarl stratospheric air mass boundary during the study period, and that the associated intrusions of stratospheric air into the troposphere can be located continuously using AWV imagery. 

tropopause folding; stratosphere-troposphere exchange; water vapor channel; ozone; specific humidity; TOPSE