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Ten-Year SCIAMACHY Stratospheric Aerosol Data Record: Signature of the Secondary Meridional Circulation Associated with the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation

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Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach in Earth System Science

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Abstract

The ten-year long stratospheric aerosol data record, retrieved from SCIAMACHY limb scattered sunlight measurements, is a continuous data set during the period from 2002 to 2012. As a result of the relatively high vertical resolution (3–4 km) and near global coverage on the sun-facing side of the Earth, the retrieved data set (V1.1) provides global information about the variability of stratospheric aerosol extinction between the tropopause and about 33 km altitude. Stratospheric aerosols are near-spherical droplets mainly comprised of sulfuric acid and water. The background aerosol load in the stratosphere results from the tropical injection of tropospheric air containing precursors of stratospheric aerosols. A sporadic but important source is the injection of gases from volcanic eruptions. These release the precursor gas SO2 into the troposphere or even directly into the stratosphere due to convection induced by volcanic heat. Stratospheric aerosols belong to the essential climate variables, as they influence the Earth’s radiation budget and are involved in the depletion of ozone. In this study, we analyse the time series of SCIAMACHY observed tropical aerosol extinction coefficients at 30 km altitude. A distinct biennial variation has been found. Based on ECMWF ERA-Interim reanalysis data, this variation is explained by the secondary meridional circulation that is induced by the quasi-biennial oscillation of the tropical zonal wind in the stratosphere.

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Acknowledgments

SCIAMACHY is jointly funded by Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. This work was in part funded by the State and the University of Bremen, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the German Aerospace Agency (DLR). The ERA-Interim reanalysis data were provided by ECMWF. RH is funded by the BMBF through the ROSA project (funding reference code 01LG1212A). CvS was supported by the Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald. Thanks to Claudia Timmreck from the Max Planck Institute (MPI) Hamburg for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Environmental Physics and Remote Sensing, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Lena A. Brinkhoff, Alexei Rozanov, René Hommel, Florian Ernst, Heinrich Bovensmann & John P. Burrows

  2. Institute of Physics, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt-University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany

    Christian von Savigny

Authors
  1. Lena A. Brinkhoff
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  2. Alexei Rozanov
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  3. René Hommel
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  4. Christian von Savigny
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  5. Florian Ernst
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  6. Heinrich Bovensmann
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  7. John P. Burrows
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lena A. Brinkhoff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Gerrit Lohmann

  2. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Helge Meggers

  3. School of Engineering and Science, Jacobs University, Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Vikram Unnithan

  4. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Dieter Wolf-Gladrow

  5. Institute of Environmental Physics, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany

    Justus Notholt

  6. Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, Bremerhaven, Germany

    Astrid Bracher

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Brinkhoff, L.A. et al. (2015). Ten-Year SCIAMACHY Stratospheric Aerosol Data Record: Signature of the Secondary Meridional Circulation Associated with the Quasi-Biennial Oscillation. In: Lohmann, G., Meggers, H., Unnithan, V., Wolf-Gladrow, D., Notholt, J., Bracher, A. (eds) Towards an Interdisciplinary Approach in Earth System Science. Springer Earth System Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-13865-7_6

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