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Seasonal Variations of Water Vapor in the Lower Stratosphere Inferred from ATMOS/ATLAS-3 Measurements of H2O and CH4Stratospheric measurements of H2O and CH4 by the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) Fourier transform spectrometer on the ATLAS-3 shuttle flight in November 1994 have been examined to investigate the altitude and geographic variability of H2O and the quantity H = (H2O + 2CH4) in the tropics and at mid-latitudes (8 to 49 deg N) in the northern hemisphere. The measurements indicate an average value of 7.24 +/- 0.44 ppmv for H between altitudes of about 18 to 35 km, corresponding to an annual average water vapor mixing ratio of 3.85 +/- 0.29 ppmv entering the stratosphere. The H2O vertical distribution in the tropics exhibits a wave-like structure in the 16- to 25-km altitude range, suggestive of seasonal variations in the water vapor transported from the troposphere to the stratosphere. The hygropause appears to be nearly coincident with the tropopause at the time of observations. This is consistent with the phase of the seasonal cycle of H2O in the lower stratosphere, since the ATMOS observations were made in November when the H2O content of air injected into the stratosphere from the troposphere is decreasing from its seasonal peak in July-August.
Document ID
19970020357
Acquisition Source
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
doi:10.1029/96GL01321
Authors
Abbas, M. M. (NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL United States)
Michelsen, H. A. (Harvard Univ. Cambridge, MA United States)
Gunson, M. R. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Abrams, M. C. (Science Applications International Corp. Hampton, VA United States)
Newchurch, M. J. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL United States)
Salawitch, R. J. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Chang, A. Y. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Goldman, A. (Denver Univ. Denver, CO United States)
Irion, F. W. (California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Manney, G. L. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Moyer, E. J. (Jet Propulsion Lab., California Inst. of Tech. Pasadena, CA United States)
Nagaraju, R. (Alabama Univ. Huntsville, AL United States)
Rinsland, C. P. (Science Applications International Corp. Hampton, VA United States)
Stiller, G. P. (Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe G.m.b.H. Karlsruhe, Germany)
Zander, R. (Liege Univ. Belgium)
Date Acquired
September 6, 2013
Publication Date
August 15, 1996
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher: American Geophysical Union
Volume: 23
Issue: 17
ISSN: 0094-8534
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Report/Patent Number
NASA-CR-204620
Paper 96GL-01321
NAS 1.26:204620
Accession Number
97N21768
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS7-100
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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