The Stratosphere: Phenomena, History, and Relevance

ISBN-13: 9783642636370 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 180 str.

Karin G. Labitzke; Harry Van Loon

Opis

This book is intended not only for meteorologists but also for scientists in other fields, for teachers, and for interested lay persons who do not want to acquaint themselves with its topics through an academic textbook. In addition to painting a picture of the stratosphere, we want to show how the approach to an understanding of Nature's complex structure of tell is along; winding, unexpected paths. At the beginning of the 20th century observations were accumulating which were essential to understanding climate and its variability. but they could not be treated systematically because important links were missing. among them the realization that there is a stratosphere or an ozone layer. When, however, one reads the scientific papers from the turn of the century and judges them on the basis of our present knowledge --which llndoubtedlr is still incomplete - one must admire the early workers in this field for the care and imagination with which they approached the subject. The discoveries we describe in this book have been important to the progress of meteorology; and it is apposite here to quote Kuhn (1962) on the course science normally takes after a discovery.

Spis treści

1 Berlin and the Stratosphere.- 1.1 The first meteorological observations.- 1.2 The exploration of the free atmosphere.- 1.2.1 Manned balloon flights.- 1.2.2 Unmanned instrumented balloons.- 1.3 The discovery of the stratosphere.- 1.4 The Royal Prussian Aeronautical Observatory at Lindenberg.- 1.4.1 The discovery of the Berson westerlies above the equator.- 1.5 The Institute of Meteorology at the Freie Universität Berlin.- 1.5.1 The discovery of the Berlin Phenomenon.- 1.5.2 The first climatology of the stratosphere on the Northern Hemisphere.- 1.5.3 The first daily weather maps of the stratosphere.- 1.5.4 The discovery of the solar signal in the stratosphere.- Literature.- 2 A Brief Description of the Stratospheric Climate.- 2.1 What kind of data is available today?.- 2.2 Mean conditions in the stratosphere.- 2.2.1 The global temperatures.- 2.2.2 The global winds.- 2.2.3 The global circulation in the stratosphere.- 2.2.4 Monthly mean maps of the Northern Hemisphere.- 2.2.5 Monthly mean maps of the Southern Hemisphere.- 2.3 Variability and trends.- 2.3.1 Interannual variability of temperature.- 2.3.2 Temperature trends in the stratosphere.- Literature.- 3 Warm and Cold Winters in the Stratosphere.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Synoptic description of a major midwinter warming.- 3.2.1 Classification of the stratospheric warmings.- 3.2.2 The Major Midwinter Warming in the winter of 1990–1991.- 3.2.3 The typical development of a stratospheric warming.- 3.3 Associations.- 3.3.1 The Southern Oscillation (SO).- 3.3.2 The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO).- 3.3.3 The solar signal in the northern winter.- 3.3.4 Volcanoes and cold winters in the stratosphere..- 3.4 A comparison between the Arctic and Antarctic.- 3.5 Model experiments.- Literature.- 4 The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO).- 4.1 Early observations.- 4.2 The discovery of the QBO in the equatorial stratosphere..- 4.3 Our present concept of the QBO.- 4.4 The connection between the QBO and high northern latitudes.- Literature.- 5 The Ozone Layer.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Early observations.- 5.2.1 Dobson’s early network of observations.- 5.2.2 The amount of ozone above Tromsö.- 5.3 The natural distribution of total ozone.- 5.4 Loss of stratospheric ozone caused by man.- 5.4.1 Catalytic destruction of ozone.- 5.4.2 The antarctic ozone hole.- 5.4.3 Trends in the ozone content of the atmosphere.- 5.4.4 Measures adopted to reduce chlorine.- Literature.- 6 The 11-Year Sunspot Cycle and the Stratosphere.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 The solar signal in the stratosphere during the year.- 6.2.1 The Northern Hemisphere.- 6.2.2 The Southern Hemisphere.- 6.2.3 Global correlations.- 6.3 Is there a connection to the tropical troposphere?.- 6.4 Total ozone and the 11-year sunspot cycle.- 6.5 In search of a physical-dynamical mechanism.- Literature.- 7 Final Remarks.- 7.1 A summary.- 7.2 Is the stratosphere relevant to our climate?.- 7.3 The unexpected.- Table of Boxes.