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O 3 variability in the troposphere as observed by IASI over 2008–2016: Contribution of atmospheric chemistry and dynamics
Author(s) -
Wespes C.,
Hurtmans D.,
Clerbaux C.,
Coheur P.F.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2016jd025875
Subject(s) - troposphere , extratropical cyclone , climatology , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , teleconnection , quasi biennial oscillation , chemical transport model , atmospheric infrared sounder , middle latitudes , north atlantic oscillation , multivariate enso index , la niña , stratosphere , satellite , arctic oscillation , el niño southern oscillation , geology , northern hemisphere , physics , astronomy
We analyze the ozone (O 3 ) variability in the troposphere (from ground to 300 hPa) using 8 years (January 2008 to March 2016) of O 3 profile measurements provided by the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on board the MetOp satellite. The capability of IASI to monitor the year‐to‐year variability in that layer is examined first in terms of vertical sensitivity, a priori contribution, and correlations in the deseasonalized anomalies with the upper layers. We present global patterns of the main geophysical drivers (e.g., solar flux, Quasi‐biennal Oscillation—QBO, North Atlantic Oscillation—NAO, and El Niño–Southern Oscillation—ENSO) of IASI O 3 variations, obtained by applying appropriate annual and seasonal multivariate regression models on time series of spatially gridded averaged O 3 . The results show that the models are able to explain most of the O 3 variability captured by IASI. Large O 3 changes in the North Arctic/Euro‐Atlantic sector and over the equatorial band are attributed to the NAO and the QBO effects, respectively. ENSO is modeled as the main contributor to the O 3 variations in the tropical band where direct effects of warm and cool ENSO phases are highlighted with a clear tropical‐extratropical gradient. A strong west‐east gradient in the tropics is also found and likely reflects an indirect effect related to ENSO dry conditions. Finally, we also show that the ENSO perturbs the O 3 variability far from the tropics into middle and high latitudes where a significant 4‐month time‐lag in the response of O 3 to ENSO is identified for the first time.