Document Type

Article

Publication Version

Published Version

Publication Date

6-2001

Journal or Book Title

Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres

Volume

106

Issue

D11

First Page

11813

Last Page

11823

DOI

10.1029/2000JD900651

Abstract

The role of dry stratospheric air descending to low and middle tropospheric levels in a severe weather outbreak in the midwestern United States is examined using NCEP Eta model output, Rapid Update Cycle (RUC) analyses, and Earth probe Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (EP/TOMS) total ozone data. While stratospheric air was not found to play a direct role in the convection, backward trajectories show stratospheric air descended to 800 hPa just west of the convection. Damaging surface winds not associated with thunderstorms also occurred in the region of greatest stratospheric descent. Small-scale features in the high-resolution total ozone data compare favorably with geopotential heights and potential vorticity fields, supporting the notion that stratospheric air descended to near the surface. A detailed vertical structure in the potential vorticity appears to be captured by small-scale total ozone variations. The capability of the total ozone to identify mesoscale features assists model verification. The total ozone data suggest biases in the RUC analysis and Eta forecast of this event. The total ozone is also useful in determining whether potential vorticity is of stratospheric origin or is diabatically generated in the troposphere.

Comments

This article is from Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres 106 (2001): 11813, doi: 10.1029/2000JD900651. Posted with permission.

Copyright Owner

American Geophysical Union

Language

en

File Format

application/pdf

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