Effects of the 11-year solar cycle on the Earth atmosphere revealed in ECMWF reanalyses

• Published in: Geophysical research letters Vol. 33; no. 24; pp. L24705 - n/a
• Main Authors: Suh, Y.-C., Lim, G.-H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Geophysical Union 01.12.2006; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Amplification; Climate dynamics; Climate variability; Convection; Earth atmosphere; Earth sciences; Earth, ocean, space; Exact sciences and technology; Global Change; History of Geophysics; Oceans; Relative humidity; Remote sensing; solar cycle; Solar cycles; Solar/planetary relationships; Three dimensional; Troposphere; Water vapor; Equatorial Atlantic; AS, Tropical Atlantic; convection; solar cycle; water vapor; Relative humidity; Earth atmosphere; strength; Atlantic Ocean; Surface layer; Intensification; troposphere; anomalies; ozone; expansion; harmonics; depth; Three dimensional structure; Tropopause; solar cycles; Height; sunspots; Mixing ratio; oscillations; stratosphere
• ISSN: 0094-8276; 1944-8007
• DOI: 10.1029/2006GL028128

We analyzed the averages and differences of the time‐mean fields for the positive and negative anomaly years of southerlies for the area between 20°W–60°W and 5°S–5°N, reproduced from the three harmonics near the 11‐year solar cycle. In the positive years of the southerlies or sunspots, the intensification of convection reduced the ozone‐mixing ratio in the tropical troposphere. Such intensification might accompany the expansion of the area subjected to convection and/or the increase of the height and strength of individual convections. Relative humidity increases in the surface layer and near the tropical tropopause level. Our results provide a support for the effects of the solar cycle on the troposphere through the convection that affects the phase change of water vapor in the tropical atmosphere as well as rather direct impacts on the tropical stratosphere ozone. The tropical Atlantic decadal oscillation has a three‐dimensional structure extending through the entire depth of troposphere.