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Space‐borne H 2 O observations in the Arctic stratosphere and mesosphere in the spring of 1992
Author(s) -
Aellig C. P.,
Bacmeister J.,
Bevilacqua R. M.,
Daehler M.,
Kriebel D.,
Pauls T.,
Siskind D.,
Kämpfer N.,
Langen J.,
Hartmann G.,
Berg A.,
Park J. H.,
Russell J. M.
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/96gl01571
Subject(s) - stratosphere , mesosphere , atmospheric sciences , arctic , polar vortex , the arctic , environmental science , physics , climatology , geology , oceanography
We report on stratospheric and mesospheric water vapor (H 2 O) observations obtained by the Millimeter wave Atmospheric Sounder (MAS) in the Arctic spring of 1992. In the lower stratosphere, the observations show enhanced H 2 O inside the vortex between 450 K and 625 K, in agreement with other H 2 O observations. In the upper stratosphere and lower mesosphere, at potential temperatures between 1850 K and 2200 K, we find regions of depressed H 2 O volume mixing ratio coincident with remnants of high potential vorticity. The depressed mesospheric H 2 O, as well as the enhanced lower stratospheric H 2 O, are consistent with wintertime descent. It also suggests effective containment of air up into the lower mesosphere.