Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics www.atmos-chem-phys.net 1680-7316 1680-7324 6 9 2006 10.5194/acp-6-2539-2006 http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/2539/2006/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/2539/2006/acp-6-2539-2006.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/6/2539/2006/acp-6-2539-2006.pdf 2539 2547 2006-07-03 The impact of cirrus clouds on tropical troposphere-to-stratosphere transport T. Corti thierry.corti@env.ethz.ch B. P. Luo Q. Fu H. Vömel T. Peter Institute for Atmospheric and Climate Science, ETH Zurich, Switzerland Department of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA Although it is well known that air enters the stratosphere preferentially through upwelling in the tropics, the exact mechanisms of troposphere-to-stratosphere transport (TST) are still unknown. Previously proposed mechanisms have been found either to be too slow (e.g., clear sky upwelling) to provide agreement with in situ tracer measurements, or to be insufficient in mass flux to act as a major supply for the Brewer-Dobson circulation (e.g., convective overshooting). In this study we evaluate whether the lofting of air via cirrus cloud-radiation interaction might offer an alternative path for TST, which is responsible for a significant fraction of the observed air mass transport. We find that a combination of deep convection and subsequent upwelling associated with cirrus clouds and clear sky can explain the supply of air for the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Thus, upwelling associated with cirrus clouds offers a mechanism for the missing second stage, which links the first stage of TST, deep convection, to the third stage, the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Ackerman, T P., Liou, K N., Valero, F. P J., and Pfister, L.: Heating Rates in Tropical Anvils, J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 1606–1623, 1988. Andrews, A E., Boering, K A., Daube, B C., Wofsy, S C., Hintsa, E J., Weinstock, E M., and Bui, T P.: Empirical age spectra for the lower tropical stratosphere from in situ observations of CO2: Implications for stratospheric transport, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 104, 26 581–26 595, 1999. Boering, K A., Daube, B C., Wofsy, S C., Loewenstein, M., Podolske, J R., and Keim, E R.: Tracer-Tracer Relationships and Lower Stratospheric Dynamics – CO2 and N2O Correlations During Spade, Geophys. Res. Lett., 21, 2567–2570, 1994. Chepfer, H., Pelon, J., Brogniez, G., Flamant, C., Trouillet, V., and Flamant, P H.: Impact of cirrus cloud ice crystal shape and size on multiple scattering effects: application to spaceborne and airborne backscatter lidar measurements during LITE mission and E LITE campaign, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 2203–2206, 1999. Comstock, J M., Ackerman, T P., and Mace, G G.: Ground-based lidar and radar remote sensing of tropical cirrus clouds at Nauru Island: Cloud statistics and radiative impacts, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 4714, doi:10.1029/2002JD002203, 2002. Corti, T., Luo, B P., Peter, T., Vomel, H., and Fu, Q.: Mean radiative energy balance and vertical mass fluxes in the equatorial upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 32, L06 802, 2005. Folkins, I. and Martin, R V.: The vertical structure of tropical convection and its impact on the budgets of water vapor and ozone, J. Atmos. Sci., 62, 1560–1573, 2005. Folkins, I., Oltmans, S J., and Thompson, A M.: Tropical convective outflow and near surface equivalent potential temperatures, Geophys. Res. Lett., 27, 2549–2552, 2000. Fu, Q. and Liou, K N.: On the Correlated K-Distribution Method for Radiative-Transfer in Nonhomogeneous Atmospheres, J. Atmos. Sci., 49, 2139–2156, 1992. Fu, Q. and Liou, K N.: Parameterization of the Radiative Properties of Cirrus Clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 50, 2008–2025, 1993. Fu, Q., Yang, P., and Sun, W B.: An accurate parameterization of the infrared radiative properties of cirrus clouds for climate models, J. Climate, 11, 2223–2237, 1998. Fu, Q A.: An accurate parameterization of the solar radiative properties of cirrus clouds for climate models, J. Climate, 9, 2058–2082, 1996. Gettelman, A., Salby, M L., and Sassi, F.: Distribution and influence of convection in the tropical tropopause region, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 4080, doi:10.1029/2001JD001048, 2002. Gettelman, A., Forster, P. M D., Fujiwara, M., Fu, Q., Vomel, H., Gohar, L K., Johanson, C., and Ammerman, M.: Radiation balance of the tropical tropopause layer, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D07 103, doi:10.1029/2003JD004190, 2004. Hartmann, D L., Holton, J R., and Fu, Q.: The heat balance of the tropical tropopause, cirrus, and stratospheric dehydration, Geophys. Res. Lett., 28, 1969–1972, 2001. Haynes, P H., Marks, C J., McIntyre, M E., Shepherd, T G., and Shine, K P.: On the Downward Control of Extratropical Diabatic Circulations by Eddy-Induced Mean Zonal Forces, J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 651–679, 1991. Holton, J R., Haynes, P H., McIntyre, M E., Douglass, A R., Rood, R B., and Pfister, L.: Stratosphere-Troposphere Exchange, Rev. Geophys., 33, 403–439, 1995. Jensen, E. and Pfister, L.: Transport and freeze-drying in the tropical tropopause layer, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D02 207, doi:10.1029/2003JD004022, 2004. Kelly, K K., Proffitt, M H., Chan, K R., Loewenstein, M., Podolske, J R., Strahan, S E., Wilson, J C., and Kley, D.: Water-Vapor and Cloud Water Measurements over Darwin During the Step 1987 Tropical Mission, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 98, 8713–8723, 1993. Kupper, C., Thuburn, J., Craig, G C., and Birner, T.: Mass and water transport into the tropical stratosphere: A cloud-resolving simulation, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 109, D10 111, doi:10.1029/2004JD004541, 2004. Lilly, D K.: Cirrus Outflow Dynamics, J. Atmos. Sci., 45, 1594–1605, 1988. Liou, K.: Radiation and Cloud Processes in the Atmosphere, Oxford University Press, 1992. Luo, B P., Peter, T., Fueglistaler, S., Wernli, H., Wirth, M., Kiemle, C., Flentje, H., Yushkov, V A., Khattatov, V., Rudakov, V., Thomas, A., Borrmann, S., Toci, G., Mazzinghi, P., Beuermann, J., Schiller, C., Cairo, F., Di~Donfrancesco, G., Adriani, A., Volk, C M., Strom, J., Noone, K., Mitev, V., MacKenzie, R A., Carslaw, K S., Trautmann, T., Santacesaria, V., and Stefanutti, L.: Dehydration potential of ultrathin clouds at the tropical tropopause, Geophys. Res. Lett., 30, 1557, doi:10.1029/2002GL016737, 2003. McCormick, M P., Winker, D M., Browell, E V., Coakley, J A., Gardner, C S., Hoff, R M., Kent, G S., Melfi, S H., Menzies, R T., Platt, C. M R., Randall, D A., and Reagan, J A.: Scientific Investigations Planned for the Lidar in-Space Technology Experiment (Lite), Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 74, 205–214, 1993. McFarquhar, G M., Heymsfield, A J., Spinhirne, J., and Hart, B.: Thin and subvisual tropopause tropical cirrus: Observations and radiative impacts, J. Atmos. Sci., 57, 1841–1853, 2000. Miller, S D. and Stephens, G L.: Multiple scattering effects in the lidar pulse stretching problem, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 104, 22 205–22 219, 1999. Peter, T., Luo, B P., Wirth, M., Kiemle, C., Flentje, H., Yushkov, V A., Khattatov, V., Rudakov, V., Thomas, A., Borrmann, S., Toci, G., Mazzinghi, P., Beuermann, J., Schiller, C., Cairo, F., Di~Donfrancesco, G., Adriani, A., Volk, C M., Strom, J., Noone, K., Mitev, V., MacKenzie, R A., Carslaw, K S., Trautmann, T., Santacesaria, V., and Stefanutti, L.: Ultrathin Tropical Tropopause Clouds (UTTCs): I. Cloud morphology and occurrence, Atmos. Chem. Phys., 3, 1083–1091, 2003. Plumb, R A.: Stratospheric transport, J. Meteorol. Soc. Jpn., 80, 793–809, 2002. Ramaswamy, V. and Ramanathan, V.: Solar Absorption by Cirrus Clouds and the Maintenance of the Tropical Upper Troposphere Thermal Structure, J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 2293–2310, 1989. Rossow, W B. and Schiffer, R A.: Advances in understanding clouds from ISCCP, Bull. Amer. Meteorol. Soc., 80, 2261–2287, 1999. Sherwood, S C. and Dessler, A E.: A model for transport across the tropical tropopause, J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 765–779, 2001. Sherwood, S C. and Dessler, A E.: Convective mixing near the tropical tropopause: Insights from seasonal variations, J. Atmos. Sci., 60, 2674–2685, 2003. Slingo, A.: A Gcm Parameterization for the Shortwave Radiative Properties of Water Clouds, J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 1419–1427, 1989. Sobel, A H., Nilsson, J., and Polvani, L M.: The weak temperature gradient approximation and balanced tropical moisture waves, J. Atmos. Sci., 58, 3650–3665, 2001. Thompson, A M., Witte, J C., McPeters, R D., Oltmans, S J., Schmidlin, F J., Logan, J A., Fujiwara, M., Kirchhoff, V., Posny, F., Coetzee, G. J R., Hoegger, B., Kawakami, S., Ogawa, T., Johnson, B J., Vomel, H., and Labow, G.: Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) 1998-2000 tropical ozone climatology – 1. Comparison with Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) and ground-based measurements, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, 8238, doi:10.1029/2001JD000967, 2003a. Thompson, A M., Witte, J C., Oltmans, S J., Schmidlin, F J., Logan, J A., Fujiwara, M., Kirchhoff, V., Posny, F., Coetzee, G. J R., Hoegger, B., Kawakami, S J., Ogawa, T., Fortuin, J. P F., and Kelder, H M.: Southern Hemisphere Additional Ozonesondes (SHADOZ) 1998–2000 tropical ozone climatology – 2. Tropospheric variability and the zonal wave-one, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 108, 8241, doi:10.1029/2002JD002241, 2003b. Volger, P., Liu, Z Y., and Sugimoto, N.: Multiple scattering simulations for the Japanese space lidar project ELISE, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote Sensing, 40, 550–559, 2002. Vomel, H., Oltmans, S J., Johnson, B J., Hasebe, F., Shiotani, M., Fujiwara, M., Nishi, N., Agama, M., Cornejo, J., Paredes, F., and Enriquez, H.: Balloon-borne observations of water vapor and ozone in the tropical upper troposphere and lower stratosphere, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 107, 4210, doi:10.1029/2001JD000707, 2002. Winker, D M., Couch, R H., and McCormick, M P.: An overview of LITE: NASA's lidar in-space technology experiment, Proc. IEEE, 84, 164–180, 1996. Zhang, C D., Mapes, B E., and Soden, B J.: Bimodality in tropical water vapour, Q. J. R. Meteorol. Soc., 129, 2847–2866, 2003.