A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

An improved parameterisation of ozone dry deposition to the ocean and its impact in a global climate–chemistry model. By A.K. Luhar et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Relative Roles of the MJO and Stratospheric Variability in North Atlantic and European Winter Climate. By C. Schwartz and C.I. Garfinkel in the Journal of Geophysical research: Atmospheres.

Upper tropospheric cloud systems derived from IR sounders: properties of cirrus anvils in the tropics. By S.E. Protopapadaki et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Sulfate geoengineering: a review of the factors controlling the needed injection of sulfur dioxide. By D. Visioni et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Global distribution of CO₂ in the upper troposphere and stratosphere. By M. Diallo et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Seasonal Prediction Skill of Northern Extratropical Surface Temperature Driven by the Stratosphere. By L. Jia in the Journal of Climate.

The potential value of early (1939–1967) upper-air data in atmospheric climate reanalysis. By H. Hersbach et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Accelerated increase in the Arctic tropospheric warming events surpassing stratospheric warming events during winter. By S.-Y.S. Wang et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Potential impact of carbonaceous aerosols on the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) during Asian summer monsoon in a global model simulation. By S. Fadnavis et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Winds and temperatures of the Arctic middle atmosphere during January measured by Doppler lidar. By J. Hildebrand et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

On the spatio-temporal representativeness of observations. By N. Schutgens et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Today, on World Meteorological Day, the World Meteorological Organisation highlights the enormous importance of clouds for weather, climate and water.

Much of the science SPARC is coordinating contributes to the theme on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity, which was identified as a Grand Challenge by the World Climate Research Programme.

Limited understanding of clouds is the major source of uncertainty in climate sensitivity, but it also contributes substantially to persistent biases in modelled circulation systems. This Grand Challenge focusses on how clouds couple to circulations in the present climate; how clouds and circulations respond to global warming or other forcings; and how clouds feed back on global warming through their influence on Earth’s radiation budget.

Find more information on the Grand Challenge, on World Met Day.

In an article published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, Hans Volkert from the German DLR highlights how voluntary international committee work has a long tradition in the atmospheric sciences and how it has contributed to major advances on a global level.

Find the article here.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

No time to chop funding for a pivotal climate programme. Nature editorial.

The SPARC water vapour assessment II: comparison of annual, semi-annual and quasi-biennial variations in stratospheric and lower mesospheric water vapour observed from satellites. By S. Lossow et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

The contribution of internal and model variabilities to the uncertainty in CMIP5 decadal climate predictions. By E. Strohbach and G. Bel in Climate Dynamics.

An Atlantic streamer in stratospheric ozone observations and SD-WACCM simulation data. By K. Hocke et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Variations of Northern Hemisphere Storm Track and Extratropical Cyclone Activity Associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation. By Y. Gao et al. in the Journal of Climate.

HEPPA-II model–measurement intercomparison project: EPP indirect effects during the dynamically perturbed NH winter 2008–2009. By B. Funke et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Impacts of storm track variations on winter time extreme weather events over the continental US. By C.-G. Ma and E.K.M. Chang in the Journal of Climate.

Atmospheric response to Arctic and Antarctic sea ice: the importance of ocean-atmosphere coupling and the background state. By D.M. Smith et al. in the Journal of Climate.

The complex behavior of El Niño winter 2015-2016. By F.M. Palmeiro et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Skillful prediction of multi-decadal variations in volcanic forcing. By A. Tuel et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Tropospheric dry layers in the tropical western Pacific: comparisons of GPS radio occultation with multiple data sets. By T. Rieckh et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Regional temperature change potentials for short lived climate forcers from multiple models. By B. Aamaas et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Reconciling differences in stratospheric ozone composites. By W.T. Ball et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

The influence of deep convection on HCHO and H₂O₂ in the upper troposphere over Europe. By H. Bozem et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Northern Hemisphere Stratospheric Pathway of different El Niño flavors in stratosphere-resolving CMIP5 models. By N. Calvo et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Natural Variations of Tropical Width and Recent Trends. By D.F. Mantsis et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Causes of interannual variability over the southern hemispheric tropospheric ozone maximum. By J. Liu et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Modulating Effects of Planetary Wave 3 on a Stratospheric Sudden Warming Event in 2005. By C. Shi et al. in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Satellite Measurements of Stratospheric GravityWaves over the Andes/Drake Passage Region Using a 3D S-Transform Technique. By C.J. Wright et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Brominated VSLS and their influence on ozone under a changing climate. By S. Falk et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

A quantitative analysis of the reactions involved in stratospheric polar ozone depletion. By I. Wohltmann et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Impact of uncertainties in inorganic chemical rate constants on tropospheric composition and ozone radiative forcing. By B. Newsome and M. Evans in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

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A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Role of Internal Atmospheric Variability in the 2015 Extreme Winter Climate Over the North America Continent. By J. Xie and M. Zhang in Geophysical Research Letters.

Seasonal variation of gravity wave parameters using different filter methods with daylight lidar measurements at mid-latitudes. By K. Baumgartner et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

A decadal satellite record of gravity wave activity in the lower stratosphere to study polar stratospheric cloud formation. By L. Hoffmann et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Small-scale orographic gravity wave drag in stable boundary layers and its impact on synoptic systems and near surface meteorology. By A. Tsiringakis et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

30-year lidar observations of the stratospheric aerosol layer state over Tomsk (Western Siberia, Russia). By V.V. Zuev et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Revisiting Southern Hemisphere Polar Stratospheric Temperature Trends in WACCM: The Role of Dynamical Forcing. By N. Calvo et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Might stratospheric variability lead to improved predictability of ENSO events? By C.I. Garfinkel in Environmental Research Letters.

The effects of the Indo-Pacific warm pool on the stratosphere. By X. Zhou et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Chemical processes related to net ozone tendencies in the free troposphere. By H. Bozem et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Uncertainty information in climate data records from Earth observation. By C.J. Merchant et al. in Earth System Science Data Discussions.

CCl₄ distribution derived from MIPAS ESA V7 data: validation, trend and lifetime estimation. By M. Valeri in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Limits on the ability of global Eulerian models to resolve intercontinental transport of chemical plumes. By S.D. Eastham and D.J. Jacobs in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Respective roles of direct GHG radiative forcing and induced Arctic sea ice loss on the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. By T. Oudar et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Global carbonyl sulfide (OCS) measured by MIPAS/Envisat during 2002–2012. By N. Glatthor et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

The influence of the Calbuco eruption on the 2015 Antarctic ozone hole in a fully coupled chemistry-climate model. By D.J. Ivy et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Impact of mountains on tropical circulation in two Earth System Models. By Z. Naiman et al. in the Journal of Climate.

Global emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases 2005–2050 with abatement potentials and costs. By P. Purohit and L. Höglund-Isaksson in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

An assessment of the climatological representativeness of IAGOS-CARIBIC trace gas measurements using EMAC model simulations. By J. Eckstein et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

The influence of dynamical variability on the observed Brewer–Dobson Circulation trend. By S.C. Hardiman in Geophysical Research Letters.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology over Ethiopia and Retrieval of its Size Distribution. By M.G. Homa et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Quantifying pollution transport from the Asian monsoon anticyclone into the lower stratosphere. By F. Ploeger et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

The 24^th SPARC Scientific Steering Group (SSG) meeting was held in Berlin, Germany, from 1-4 November 2016. The meeting followed a one-day science workshop focused on SPARC’s contribution to the WCRP Grand Challenges on 31 October 2016. The resulting report gives an overview of current and new SPARC activities, the current state of partner projects and an update on the looming gap in limb-sounding observations of atmospheric composition. Key discussion points from the WCRP/SPARC Workshop: “Grand Challenges for Climate Science – Synergies between SPARC and the WCRP Grand Challenges” are also listed.

Find the report.

Related publication: SPARC Newsletter No. 48, January 2017.

SPARC’s Stratospheric Sulfur and its Role in Climate (SSiRC) activity is sponsoring a workshop focused on facilitating communications and collaborations among scientists responsible for observations of stratospheric aerosol by in situ, ground-based and space-based instruments.

Key goals are to develop strategies for understanding and closing differences among instruments, and for characterizing the continuity of the measurement record as instruments and measurement paradigms change, while keeping in mind the end goal of providing data users, particularly the climate modeling community, more robust and better-characterized data sets than normally obtained from single instruments.

As such, it will consist of a few invited talks and substantial time set aside for group discussions. We hope that participants will develop ideas for collaborative projects and, perhaps, proposal ideas. We will summarize meeting outcomes in the SPARC Newsletter.

Given the nature of the workshop, attendance will be limited to about 25, with some allowance for students and early career scientists.

If you are interested in attending, please contact the conveners.
If you wish to make a presentation, please include a synopsis in your email.
We will distribute the synopses to attendees prior to the workshop.

The workshop is scheduled for September 6 to 8^th at Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder, Colorado.
A modest registration fee is expected (<$100).
More details about the meeting location and schedule will be forthcoming.

Conveners:

Larry Thomason l.w.thomason@nasa.gov

Lars Kalnajs kalnajs@colorado.edu

Terry Deshler deshler@uwyo.edu