The key role of coupled chemistry-climate interactions in tropical stratospheric temperature variability

Simchan Yook, David W. J. Thompson, Susan Solomon, Seo-Yeon Kim

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to quantify the effects of coupled chemistry–climate interactions on the amplitude and structure of stratospheric temperature variability. To do so, the authors examine two simulations run on version 4 of the Whole Atmosphere Coupled Climate Model (WACCM): a “free-running” simulation that includes fully coupled chemistry–climate interactions and a “specified chemistry” version of the model forced with prescribed climatological-mean chemical composition. The results indicate that the inclusion of coupled chemistry–climate interactions increases the internal variability of temperature by a factor of ~2 in the lower tropical stratosphere and—to a lesser extent—in the Southern Hemisphere polar stratosphere. The increased temperature variability in the lower tropical stratosphere is associated with dynamically driven ozone–temperature feedbacks that are only included in the coupled chemistry simulation. The results highlight the fundamental role of two-way feedbacks between the atmospheric circulation and chemistry in driving climate variability in the lower stratosphere.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7619–7629
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Climate
Volume33
Issue number17
Early online date3 Aug 2020
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Sept 2020

Keywords

  • Atmospheric circulation
  • Stratosphere
  • Ozone
  • Radiation budgets
  • Climate variability
  • Interannual variability

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