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The potential for stratosphere‐troposphere exchange in cut‐off‐low systems
Author(s) -
Price J. D.,
Vaughan G.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
quarterly journal of the royal meteorological society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.744
H-Index - 143
eISSN - 1477-870X
pISSN - 0035-9009
DOI - 10.1002/qj.49711951007
Subject(s) - tropopause , troposphere , stratosphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , climatology , southern hemisphere , northern hemisphere , convection , jet stream , geology , meteorology , jet (fluid) , geography , physics , thermodynamics
Three mechanisms are discussed associated with cut‐off‐low (COL) systems which can transfer stratospheric air into the troposphere. These mechanisms are: (i) convective erosion of the tropopause, (ii) erosion of the tropopause by turbulence associated with a jet stream, and (iii) tropopause folding around the flank of a COL. Three case studies are presented which examine the first two of these processes and provide evidence that stratosphere‐troposphere exchange (STE) had occurred. Furthermore, results suggest that periodic reintensification of some COLs cause all these processes to recur or be prolonged. Their relative importance to STE is discussed and an estimate for that occurring by mechanism (i) is given for one of the case studies. Statistical data on annual COL numbers are used to calculate and annual mean transfer of ozone by this mechanism, which is found to be no more than 4% of the annual transfer for the northern hemisphere. This result suggests that convective STE in COLs is a minor contributor to the northern hemisphere STE.