RUI: Stratospheric Warming and Its Relationship to Surface Climate

Coastal Carolina University, Conway SC

Investigators

Abstract

The Research in Undergraduate Institutions (RUI) project will investigate interaction of the stratosphere and troposphere in context of the stratospheric sudden warming phenomenon. Interest in the stratospheric circulation, including sudden warming, has recently been rekindled by observational analysis that suggests that a primary mode of tropospheric variability in polar latitudes - the Northern Hemisphere Annular Mode - is influenced by the downward migration of annular anomalies from the stratosphere. Variations in stratospheric polar vortex have been linked to seasonal anomalies in the tropospheric zonal-mean zonal winds and circulation patterns such as the Arctic Oscillation/North Atlantic Oscillation. These patterns have profound impact on European and North American climate and weather. Dr. Limpasuvan will conduct a dynamically oriented objective analysis of the mechanisms coupling the troposphere and stratosphere, including wave propagation. Diagnosis of heat and momentum fluxes associated with sudden warming will also be undertaken. The project will advance the understanding of mechanisms responsible for stratosphere's influence on surface weather and climate. The project will involve undergraduate students at Coastal Carolina University in an effort to integrate research into the school's science education, and strengthen the institution's new Applied Physics program. It will provide valuable and unique research experience to undergraduates in South Carolina and the greater southeastern region.