The effect of orographic gravity waves on Antarctic polar st

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TitleThe effect of orographic gravity waves on Antarctic polar stratospheric cloud occurrence and compositionAbstractA seasonal analysis of the relationship between mesoscale orographic gravity wave activity and polar stratospheric cloud (PSC) composition occurrence around the whole of Antarctica is presented. Gravity wave variances are derived from temperature measurements made with the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere and Climate (COSMIC) Global Positioning System Radio Occultation (GPS-RO) satellites. Data from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) instrument onboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations (CALIPSO) satellite are used to determine the PSC composition class distribution and spatial volume. The results show intermittent large wave activity above the Antarctic Peninsula which is coincident with large volumes of H<inf>2</inf>O ice PSCs. These ice PSC volumes advect downstream, where increases in nitric acid trihydrate (NAT) PSC volumes occur, supporting the mountain wave seeding hypothesis. During winter 2007 in the latitude range 60Â DegreesS-70Â DegreesS, near the edge of the vortex and where temperatures are close to PSC formation thresholds, 30% of all PSCs are attributable to orographic gravity waves. In the separate composition classes, around 50% of both H<inf>2</inf>O ice PSCs and a high NAT number density liquid-NAT mixture class of PSCs are due to these waves. While we show that planetary waves are the major determinant of PSC presence at temperatures close to the NAT formation threshold, we also demonstrate the important role of mesoscale, intermittent orographic gravity wave activity in accounting for the composition and distribution of PSCs around Antarctica. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.AcknowledgementsThe CALIPSO CALIOP v2.01 level 1B profile data products were obtained through the NASA Langley Atmospheric Science Data Center (ASDC). The COSMIC version 2.0 dry temperature data from the COSMIC Data Analysis and Archive Center (CDAAC). Aura MLS data used in this study were acquired as part of NASAÅ› Earth-Sun System Division and archived and distributed by the Goddard Earth Sciences (GES) Data and Information Services Center (DISC) Distributed Active Archive Center (DAAC). This research was conducted for projects 737 and 3140 of the Australian Antarctic program and partially supported by Antarctica New Zealand. One of the authors (A.A.-T.) is supported under a University of Canterbury and SEP-DRGI postgraduate research fund. We thank three anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments on an earlier version of this manuscript.

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1st AuthorAlexander, SAuthorAlexander, S.Klekociuk, A.Pitts, M.McDonald, A.Arevalo-Torres, A.Year2011JournalJournal of Geophysical Research AtmospheresVolume116Number6DOI10.1029/2010JD015184URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....3ddd39957cedc088211a99b7aKeywordsAtmospheric aerosolsGlobal positioning systemGravity wavesHydrodynamicsIceIonosphereNitric acidOptical radarSatellitesTemperature measurementWaves, Antarctic PeninsulaAntarcticaCALIPSOClass distributionsCloud-aerosol lidar and infrared pathfinder satellite observationsCloud-aerosol lidar with orthogonal polarizationsConstellation observing system for meteorologyIonosphere and climatesMesoscaleMountain waveNumber densityOrographic gravity wavesPlanetary WavesPolar stratospheric cloudsRadio occultationsSeasonal analysisSpatial volumeWave activity, Gravitational effects, CALIPSOgravity waveorographyplanetary wavepolar mesospheric cloudsatellite dataseasonal variationstratospherewave action, Antarctica, rank5

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TypeArticleCitationAlexander, S., Klekociuk, A., Pitts, M., McDonald, A. and Arevalo-Torres, A. (2011). The effect of orographic gravity waves on Antarctic polar stratospheric cloud occurrence and composition. Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, 116(6) IdentifierAlexander2011Relevancerank5