HR: 08:30h
AN: A11D-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Thermal structure of the TTL and its relation to stratospheric-tropospheric exchange of water.
AU: * de la Torre Ju\'arez, M
EM: mtj@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
AU: Ao, C O
EM: Chi.O.Ao@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
AU: Schr\o der, T M
EM: tms@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
AU: Hermann, R
EM: Robert.Hermann@jpl.nasa.gov
AF: Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Dr., Pasadena, CA 91109-8099
AB: The annual cycle of the TTL fine scale thermal structure is described as captured by GPS radio occultation and the pressure levels of the ECMWF weather analysis. This annual cycle is compared to the annual cycle in water concentrations at the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere measured by HALOE. It is found that the saturation mixing ratios at the Cold Point Tropopause temperatures are consistent and sligthly below HALOE values with some temporal lag. This suggests that if dehydration mechanisms other than those associated with slow vertical asscent are working effectively, they must be counterbalanced by other hydration mechanisms. A comparison between saturation mixing ratios at the temperatures captured by GPS radio occultation and HALOE concentrations of water vapor show an annual cycle dominated by supersaturation in the boreal winter months, when the upward mass fluxes are larger, and subsaturation in the summer. The longitudinal dependence of these cycles is discussed and so is its possible implication for the seasonality of statospheric-tropospheric exchange of water.
DE: 3362 Stratosphere/troposphere interactions
DE: 3309 Climatology (1620)
DE: 3319 General circulation
DE: 1640 Remote sensing
SC: Atmospheric Sciences [A]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting