Information complementarity in quantum physics

We demonstrate that the concept of information offers a more complete description of complementarity than the traditional approach based on observables. We present the first experimental test of information complementarity for two-qubit pure states, achieving close agreement with theory; We also explore the distribution of information in a comprehensive range of mixed states. Our results highlight the strange and subtle properties of even the simplest quantum systems: for example, entanglement can be increased by reducing correlations between two subsystems.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures (including supplementary material

A numerical process study on the rapid transport of stratospheric air down to the surface over western North America and the Tibetan Plateau

Upper-level fronts are often associated with the rapid transport of stratospheric air along tilted isentropes to the middle or lower troposphere, where this air leads to significantly enhanced ozone concentrations. These plumes of originally stratospheric air can only occasionally be observed at the surface because (i) stable boundary layers prevent an efficient vertical transport down to the surface, and (ii) even if boundary layer turbulence were strong enough to enable this transport, the originally stratospheric air mass can be diluted by mixing, such that only a weak stratospheric signal can be recorded at the surface. Most documented examples of stratospheric air reaching the surface occurred in mountainous regions. This study investigates two such events, using a passive stratospheric air mass tracer in a mesoscale model to explore the processes that enable the transport down to the surface. The events occurred in early May 2006 in the Rocky Mountains and in mid-June 2006 on the Tibetan Plateau. In both cases, a tropopause fold associated with an upper-level front enabled stratospheric air to enter the troposphere. In our model simulation of the North American case, the strong frontal zone reaches down to 700&thinsp;hPa and leads to a fairly direct vertical transport of the stratospheric tracer along the tilted isentropes to the surface. In the Tibetan Plateau case, however, no near-surface front exists and a reservoir of high stratospheric tracer concentrations initially forms at 300–400&thinsp;hPa, without further isentropic descent. However, entrainment at the top of the very deep boundary layer (reaching to 300&thinsp;hPa over the Tibetan Plateau) and turbulence within the boundary layer allows for downward transport of stratospheric air to the surface. Despite the strongly differing dynamical processes, stratospheric tracer concentrations at the surface reach peak values of 10&thinsp;%–20&thinsp;% of the imposed stratospheric value in both cases, corroborating the potential of deep stratosphere-to-troposphere transport events to significantly influence surface ozone concentrations in these regions.</p

A global climatology of stratosphere–troposphere exchange using the ERA-Interim data set from 1979 to 2011

In this study we use the ERA-Interim reanalysis data set from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) and a refined version of a previously developed Lagrangian methodology to compile a global 33 yr climatology of stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE) from 1979 to 2011. Fluxes of mass and ozone are calculated across the tropopause, pressure surfaces in the troposphere, and the top of the planetary boundary layer (PBL). This climatology provides a state-of-the-art quantification of the geographical distribution of STE and the preferred transport pathways, as well as insight into the temporal evolution of STE during the last 33 yr. We confirm the distinct zonal and seasonal asymmetry found in previous studies using comparable methods. The subset of "deep STE", where stratospheric air reaches the PBL within 4 days or vice versa, shows especially strong geographical and seasonal variations. The global hotspots for deep STE are found along the west coast of North America and over the Tibetan Plateau, especially in boreal winter and spring. An analysis of the time series reveals significant positive trends of the net downward mass flux and of deep STE in both directions, which are particularly large over North America. The downward ozone flux across the tropopause is dominated by the seasonal cycle of ozone concentrations at the tropopause and peaks in summer, when the mass flux is nearly at its minimum. For the subset of deep STE events, the situation is reversed and the downward ozone flux into the PBL is dominated by the mass flux and peaks in early spring. Thus surface ozone concentration along the west coast of North America and around the Tibetan Plateau are likely to be influenced by deep stratospheric intrusions. We discuss the sensitivity of our results on the choice of the control surface representing the tropopause, the horizontal and vertical resolution of the trajectory starting grid, and the minimum residence time τ used to filter out transient STE trajectories

Stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE) in the vicinity of North Atlantic cyclones

It is well known that the storm tracks are a preferred region of stratosphere–troposphere exchange (STE), but a systematic and climatological investigation of the connection between cyclones and STE has not yet been performed. We use two ERA-Interim climatologies of STE and cyclones for the years 1979–2011 to quantify the amount of STE that occurs during the life cycle of North Atlantic cyclones. A Lagrangian method serves to identify individual STE events, and a sophisticated cyclone identification tool detects cyclones, their shape and size from the sea-level pressure (SLP) field and from geopotential height anomalies at 300–700 hPa. Combining the two data sets reveals that roughly 50–60 % of the total STE in the North Atlantic occurs in the vicinity of cyclones and that both downward and upward fluxes of mass across the tropopause (STT and TST, respectively) are more intense in deeper cyclones (lower minimum SLP) compared to less intense cyclones. In summer, STT and TST in the vicinity of cyclones are almost equal; in the other seasons, STT is larger by 25–60 %. Compared to climatology, cross-tropopause mass fluxes are enhanced by a factor of about 1.29 and 1.06 for STT and TST, respectively, when a cyclone is present. On average, STE is strongest during the mature phase of cyclones, i.e., in a 24 h time window around the time of maximum intensity. Systematic patterns of exchange locations relative to the cyclone centre are identified via composite analysis and shed light on the different characteristics of STT and TST. During cyclone intensification and in the mature stage, TST is mainly confined to the cyclone centre, whereas STT occurs mainly in a region further southwest. During the decay of the cyclones, both STT and TST are most frequent close to the cyclone centre, in a region with a fairly low tropopause

On the linkage between the Asian summer monsoon and tropopause fold activity over the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East

A climatology of tropopause folds occurring over the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East (EMME) has been established using the ERA-Interim reanalyses for the years 1979-2012. The methodology employs an algorithm that detects folds at grid points where the vertical profile features multiple crossings of the dynamical tropopause and allows their classification according to their vertical extent. Our results confirm the findings of an earlier 1 year climatology that recognized a global "hot spot" of summertime fold activity between the eastern Mediterranean and central Asia, in the vicinity of the subtropical jet. Two distinct maxima of activity are identified over Turkey and Iran-Afghanistan where fold frequency exceeds 25%. Occasionally, medium and deep folds form over the two regions at surprisingly low latitudes. This summertime peak in fold activity diverges from the zonal mean seasonal cycle over the subtropics and is driven by the South Asian Monsoon. Starting in late spring, the EMME is gradually brought under the influence of the zonally asymmetric background state induced by the monsoon. As areas of sharply sloping isentropes develop especially over the eastern Mediterranean and Iran-Afghanistan, subsidence and fold formation are favored. Further investigation of the reanalysis data provided empirical evidence that the monsoon also drives the interannual variability of EMME fold activity. An upward trend in fold activity is identified, especially in May, attributed to the recent advanced monsoon onset and the deepening convective activity throughout summer, which promotes upper-level baroclinicity over the EMME and favors folding

STEFLUX, a tool for investigating stratospheric intrusions: application to two WMO/GAW global stations

Stratospheric intrusion (SI) events are a topic of ongoing research, especially because of their ability to change the oxidation capacity of the troposphere and their contribution to tropospheric ozone levels. In this work, a novel tool called STEFLUX (Stratosphere-to-Troposphere Exchange Flux) is presented, discussed, and used to provide a first long-term investigation of SI over two global hot-spot regions for climate change and air pollution: the southern Himalayas and the central Mediterranean Basin. The main purpose of STEFLUX is to obtain a fast-computing and reliable identification of the SI events occurring at a specific location and during a specified time window. It relies on a compiled stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange (STE) climatology, which makes use of the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset from the ECMWF, as well as a refined version of a well-established Lagrangian methodology. STEFLUX results are compared to the SI observations (SIO) at two high-mountain WMO/GAW global stations in these climate hot spots, i.e., the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (NCO-P, 5079 m a.s.l.) and Mt. Cimone (2165 m a.s.l.), which are often affected by SI events. Compared to the observational datasets at the two specific measurement sites, STEFLUX is able to detect SI events on a regional scale. Furthermore, it has the advantage of retaining additional information concerning the pathway of stratospheric-affected air masses, such as the location of tropopause crossing and other meteorological parameters along the trajectories. However, STEFLUX neglects mixing and dilution that air masses undergo along their transport within the troposphere. Therefore, the regional-scale STEFLUX events cannot be expected to perfectly reproduce the point measurements at NCO-P and Mt. Cimone, which are also affected by small-scale (orographic) circulations. Still, the seasonal variability in SI events according to SIO and STEFLUX agrees fairly well. By exploiting the fact that the ERA-Interim reanalysis extends back to 1979, the long-term climatology of SI events at NCO-P and Mt. Cimone is also assessed in this work. The analysis of the 35-year record at both stations denies the existence of any significant trend in the SI frequency, except for winter seasons at NCO-P. Furthermore, for the first time, by using the STEFLUX outputs, we investigate the potential impact of specific climate factors (i.e. ENSO, QBO, and solar activity) on SI frequency variability over the Mediterranean Basin and the Himalayas

Reasons for the extremely high-ranging planetary boundary layer over the western Tibetan Plateau in winter

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) over the Tibetan Plateau (with a mean elevation about 4 km above sea level) reaches an unmatched height of 9515 m above sea level. The proximity of this height to the tropopause facilitates an exchange between the stratosphere and the boundary layer. However, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this unique PBL have remained uncertain. Here, the authors explore these mechanisms and their relative importance using measurements of the PBL, the associated surface fluxes, and single-column and regional numerical simulations, as well as global reanalysis data. Results indicate that the dry conditions of both ground soil and atmosphere in late winter cannot explain the special PBL alone. Rather, the results from a single-column model demonstrate the key influence of the stability of the free atmosphere upon the growth of extremely deep PBLs over the Tibetan Plateau. Simulations with the numerical weather prediction model Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMO) exhibit good correspondence with the observed mean PBL structure and realistic turbulent kinetic energy distributions throughout the PBL. Using ERA-Interim, the authors furthermore find that weak atmospheric stability and the resultant deep PBLs are associated with higher upper-level potential vorticity (PV) values, which in turn correspond to a more southerly jet position and higher wind speeds. Upper-level PV structures and jet position thus influence the PBL development over the Tibetan Plateau

STEFLUX, a tool for investigating stratospheric intrusions: application to two WMO/GAW global stations

Stratospheric intrusion (SI) events are a topic of ongoing research, especially because of their ability to change the oxidation capacity of the troposphere and their contribution to tropospheric ozone levels. In this work, a novel tool called STEFLUX (Stratosphere-to-Troposphere Exchange Flux) is presented, discussed, and used to provide a first long-term investigation of SI over two global hot-spot regions for climate change and air pollution: the southern Himalayas and the central Mediterranean Basin. The main purpose of STEFLUX is to obtain a fast-computing and reliable identification of the SI events occurring at a specific location and during a specified time window. It relies on a compiled stratosphere-to-troposphere exchange (STE) climatology, which makes use of the ERA-Interim reanalysis dataset from the ECMWF, as well as a refined version of a well-established Lagrangian methodology. STEFLUX results are compared to the SI observations (SIO) at two high-mountain WMO/GAW global stations in these climate hot spots, i.e., the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid (NCO-P, 5079\u202fm\u202fa.s.l.) and Mt. Cimone (2165\u202fm\u202fa.s.l.), which are often affected by SI events. Compared to the observational datasets at the two specific measurement sites, STEFLUX is able to detect SI events on a regional scale. Furthermore, it has the advantage of retaining additional information concerning the pathway of stratospheric-affected air masses, such as the location of tropopause crossing and other meteorological parameters along the trajectories. However, STEFLUX neglects mixing and dilution that air masses undergo along their transport within the troposphere. Therefore, the regional-scale STEFLUX events cannot be expected to perfectly reproduce the point measurements at NCO-P and Mt. Cimone, which are also affected by small-scale (orographic) circulations. Still, the seasonal variability in SI events according to SIO and STEFLUX agrees fairly well. By exploiting the fact that the ERA-Interim reanalysis extends back to 1979, the long-term climatology of SI events at NCO-P and Mt. Cimone is also assessed in this work. The analysis of the 35-year record at both stations denies the existence of any significant trend in the SI frequency, except for winter seasons at NCO-P. Furthermore, for the first time, by using the STEFLUX outputs, we investigate the potential impact of specific climate factors (i.e. ENSO, QBO, and solar activity) on SI frequency variability over the Mediterranean Basin and the Himalayas

Reasons for the extremely high-ranging planetary boundary layer over the western Tibetan Plateau in winter

The planetary boundary layer (PBL) over the Tibetan Plateau (with a mean elevation about 4 km above sea level) reaches an unmatched height of 9515 m above sea level. The proximity of this height to the tropopause facilitates an exchange between the stratosphere and the boundary layer. However, the underlying mechanisms responsible for this unique PBL have remained uncertain. Here, the authors explore these mechanisms and their relative importance using measurements of the PBL, the associated surface fluxes, and single-column and regional numerical simulations, as well as global reanalysis data. Results indicate that the dry conditions of both ground soil and atmosphere in late winter cannot explain the special PBL alone. Rather, the results from a single-column model demonstrate the key influence of the stability of the free atmosphere upon the growth of extremely deep PBLs over the Tibetan Plateau. Simulations with the numerical weather prediction model Consortium for Small-Scale Modelling (COSMO) exhibit good correspondence with the observed mean PBL structure and realistic turbulent kinetic energy distributions throughout the PBL. Using ERA-Interim, the authors furthermore find that weak atmospheric stability and the resultant deep PBLs are associated with higher upper-level potential vorticity (PV) values, which in turn correspond to a more southerly jet position and higher wind speeds. Upper-level PV structures and jet position thus influence the PBL development over the Tibetan Plateau

On the role of tropopause folds in summertime tropospheric ozone over the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East

We study the contribution of tropopause folds in the summertime pool of tropospheric ozone over the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East (EMME) with the aid of the ECHAM5/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model. Tropopause fold events in EMAC simulations were identified with a 3-D labeling algorithm that detects folds at grid points where multiple crossings of the dynamical tropopause are computed. Subsequently the events featuring the largest horizontal and vertical extent were selected for further study. For the selection of these events we identified a significant contribution of the stratospheric ozone reservoir to the high concentrations of ozone in the middle and lower free troposphere over the EMME. A distinct increase of ozone is found over the EMME in the middle troposphere during summer as a result of the fold activity, shifting towards the southeast and decreasing altitude. We find that the interannual variability of near-surface ozone over the eastern Mediterranean (EM) during summer is related to that of both tropopause folds and ozone in the free troposphere