Open AccessSudden stratospheric warming did not cool the thermosphere
Author(s) -
Balcerak Ernie
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1029/2011eo500020
Subject(s) - thermosphere , sudden stratospheric warming , stratosphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , atmosphere (unit) , climatology , atmospheric temperature , earth's magnetic field , global warming , meteorology , climate change , ionosphere , geology , polar vortex , physics , geophysics , oceanography , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
In January 2009 a sudden stratospheric warming event occurred, in which temperatures in the stratosphere increased by 70 K. A previous study indicated that this sudden stratospheric warming led to strong cooling higher up in the atmosphere, in the upper thermosphere. However, a new analysis by Fuller‐Rowell et al. shows that that is probably not the case. The authors analyzed three different models and found that there was no evidence for any large‐scale decrease in upper thermosphere temperature or density caused by the sudden stratospheric warming event. Rather, they found that the observed decrease could be explained by small changes in geomagnetic activity that occurred at the same time. ( Geophysical Research Letters , doi:10.1029/2011GL048985, 2011)