Potential impact of subsonic and supersonic aircraft exhaust on water vapor in the lower stratosphere assessed via a trajectory model

We employ a trajectory model to assess the impact on the stratosphere of water vapor present in the exhaust of subsonic and a proposed fleet of supersonic aircraft. Air parcels into which water vapor from aircraft exhaust has been injected are run through a 6-year simulation in the trajectory model using meteorological data from the UKMO analyses with emissions dictated by the standard 2015 emissions scenario. For the subsonic aircraft, our results suggest maximum enhancements of ~150 ppbv just above the Northern Hemisphere tropopause and of much less than 50 ppbv in most other regions. Inserting the perturbed water vapor profiles into a radiative transfer model, but not considering the impact of additional cirrus formation resulting from emissions by subsonic aircraft, we find that the impact of subsonic water vapor emissions on the radiative balance is negligible. For the supersonic case, our results show maximum enhancements of ~1.5 ppmv in the tropical stratosphere near 20 km. Much of the remaining stratosphere between 12 and 25 km sees enhancements of greater than 0.1 ppmv, although enhancements above 35 km are generally less than 50 ppbv, in contrast to previous 2-D and 3-D model studies. Radiative calculations based upon these projected water vapor perturbations indicate they may cause a nonnegligible impact on tropical temperature profiles. Since our trajectory model includes no chemistry and our radiative calculations use the most extreme water vapor perturbations, our results should be viewed as upper limits on the potential impacts

Theoretical modelling and meteorological analysis for the AASE mission

Providing real time constituent data analysis and potential vorticity computations in support of the Airborne Arctic Stratospheric Experiment (AASE) is discussed. National Meteorological Center (NMC) meteorological data and potential vorticity computations derived from NMC data are projected onto aircraft coordinates and provided to the investigators in real time. Balloon and satellite constituent data are composited into modified Lagrangian mean coordinates. Various measurements are intercompared, trends deduced and reconstructions of constituent fields performed

Residual circulations calculated from satellite data: Their relations to observed temperature and ozone distributions

Monthly mean residual circulations were calculated from eight years of satellite data. The diabatic circulation is usually found to give a good approximation to the residual circulation, but this is not always the case. In particular, an example is shown at 60 deg S and 30 mbar where the diabatic and residual circulations show very different annual variations. Correlations between the vertical component of the residual circulation and temperature and ozone were computed. The computations indicate that yearly variations of temperatures in the tropics are under radiative control, except during stratospheric warmings. Interannual variations in seasonal mean temperatures are shown to be under dynamical control everywhere. Correlations between seasonal means of the vertical component of the residual circulation and ozone mixing ratios are consistent with what would be expected from the ozone variations being due to differences in the ozone transport, although transport effects cannot easily be distinguished from photochemical effects above the altitude of the ozone mixing ratio peak. Finally, variations in total ozone are examined in comparison with residual circulation variations. A one to two month phase lag is seen in the annual variation in the total ozone at 60 deg N with respect to the maximum downward residual motions. This phase lag is greater at 60 deg N than at 60 deg S. There is evidence at 60 deg S of a greater downward trend in the mean zonal ozone maxima than there is in the minima. A decreasing trend in the maximum descending motion is seen to accompany the ozone trend at 60 deg S

Potential impact of subsonic and supersonic aircraft exhaust on water vapor in the lower stratosphere assessed via a trajectory model

We employ a trajectory model to assess the impact on the stratosphere of water vapor present in the exhaust of subsonic and a proposed fleet of supersonic aircraft. Air parcels into which water vapor from aircraft exhaust has been injected are run through a 6-year simulation in the trajectory model using meteorological data from the UKMO analyses with emissions dictated by the standard 2015 emissions scenario. For the subsonic aircraft, our results suggest maximum enhancements of ~150 ppbv just above the Northern Hemisphere tropopause and of much less than 50 ppbv in most other regions. Inserting the perturbed water vapor profiles into a radiative transfer model, but not considering the impact of additional cirrus formation resulting from emissions by subsonic aircraft, we find that the impact of subsonic water vapor emissions on the radiative balance is negligible. For the supersonic case, our results show maximum enhancements of ~1.5 ppmv in the tropical stratosphere near 20 km. Much of the remaining stratosphere between 12 and 25 km sees enhancements of greater than 0.1 ppmv, although enhancements above 35 km are generally less than 50 ppbv, in contrast to previous 2-D and 3-D model studies. Radiative calculations based upon these projected water vapor perturbations indicate they may cause a nonnegligible impact on tropical temperature profiles. Since our trajectory model includes no chemistry and our radiative calculations use the most extreme water vapor perturbations, our results should be viewed as upper limits on the potential impacts

Stratospheric General Circulation with Chemistry Model (SGCCM)

In the past two years constituent transport and chemistry experiments have been performed using both simple single constituent models and more complex reservoir species models. Winds for these experiments have been taken from the data assimilation effort, Stratospheric Data Analysis System (STRATAN)

TRY plant trait database – enhanced coverage and open access

Plant traits - the morphological, anatomical, physiological, biochemical and phenological characteristics of plants - determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels, and influence ecosystem properties and their benefits and detriments to people. Plant trait data thus represent the basis for a vast area of research spanning from evolutionary biology, community and functional ecology, to biodiversity conservation, ecosystem and landscape management, restoration, biogeography and earth system modelling. Since its foundation in 2007, the TRY database of plant traits has grown continuously. It now provides unprecedented data coverage under an open access data policy and is the main plant trait database used by the research community worldwide. Increasingly, the TRY database also supports new frontiers of trait‐based plant research, including the identification of data gaps and the subsequent mobilization or measurement of new data. To support this development, in this article we evaluate the extent of the trait data compiled in TRY and analyse emerging patterns of data coverage and representativeness. Best species coverage is achieved for categorical traits - almost complete coverage for ‘plant growth form’. However, most traits relevant for ecology and vegetation modelling are characterized by continuous intraspecific variation and trait–environmental relationships. These traits have to be measured on individual plants in their respective environment. Despite unprecedented data coverage, we observe a humbling lack of completeness and representativeness of these continuous traits in many aspects. We, therefore, conclude that reducing data gaps and biases in the TRY database remains a key challenge and requires a coordinated approach to data mobilization and trait measurements. This can only be achieved in collaboration with other initiatives

What Controls the Temperature of the Arctic Stratosphere during the Spring?

Understanding the mechanisms that control the temperature of the polar lower stratosphere during spring is key to understanding ozone loss in the Arctic polar vortex. Spring ozone loss rates are directly tied to polar stratospheric temperatures by the formation of polar stratospheric clouds, and the conversion of chlorine species to reactive forms on these cloud particle surfaces. In this paper, we study those factors that control temperatures in the polar lower stratosphere. We use the National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP)/NCAR reanalysis data covering the last two decades to investigate how planetary wave driving of the stratosphere is connected to polar temperatures. In particular, we show that planetary waves forced in the troposphere in mid- to late winter (January-February) are principally responsible for the mean polar temperature during the March period. These planetary waves are forced by both thermal and orographic processes in the troposphere, and propagate into the stratosphere in the mid and high latitudes. Strong mid-winter planetary wave forcing leads to a warmer Arctic lower stratosphere in early spring, while weak mid-winter forcing leads to cooler Arctic temperatures