成層圏突然昇温の解明

Credit by NASA

The final target of this research is to find out the potential response of the atmospheric compositions affected by Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere. A SSW is a dramatic middle atmosphere event where the polar vortex of westerly (eastward) winds in the winter hemisphere abruptly (i.e. over the course of a few days) slows down (Minor warming) or even reverses direction (Major warming). During such events, the polar stratosphere exhibits warming of tens of degrees over a few days and polar mesospheric cooling has also been observed during SSWs. Over the past decades, satellite instruments have observed the impact of SSW events on minor constituents like carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrous oxide (N2O) and water vapor (HO2). It is now clear that SSWs are dynamical disturbances affecting the entire middle and upper atmosphere, in addition to perturbing the tropospheric circulation (Kvissel, O.-K., et al., 2011). We investigated the impact of SSW in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere using newly obtained data with SMILES (Superconducting subMillimeter Limb Emission Sounder).