Space‐borne H 2 O observations in the Arctic stratosphere and mesosphere in the spring of 1992

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...

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Published inGeophysical research letters Vol. 23; no. 17; pp. 2325 - 2328
Main Authors 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.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published 15.08.1996
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/96GL01571