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Atmosphere
Special Issues
Effects of Climate Change on Earth's Upper Atmosphere
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Effects of Climate Change on Earth's Upper Atmosphere

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Upper Atmosphere".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 September 2019) | Viewed by 5462

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Amal Chandran

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Satellite Research Centre, School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Nanyang 639798, Singapore
Interests: small satellite development; satellite instrumentation for atmospheric remote sensing; optical and infrared remote sensing on cubesat platforms; stratospheric sudden warmings; atmospheric coupling and stratosphere–mesosphere dynamics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

One of the modern challenges facing atmospheric scientists is to unambiguously quantify the responses of anthropogenic forcing’s on different layers of the atmosphere. Due to the continuous increase in CO2 from human activity, the Ionosphere Thermosphere Mesosphere (ITM) system is being slowly driven to a fundamentally new state. Increasing CO2 will ultimately cool the entire ITM system (and the stratosphere) and will result in density decreases approaching up to 40% at satellite altitudes. As density decreases at satellite altitude, decreasing atmospheric drag, lifetimes of all orbiting objects, including debris, increase significantly. These changes could have profound effects on the structure and composition of the ITM system and, potentially, on the long-term usability of the low-earth orbit. With the projected launch of thousands of satellites over the next decade, debris will exponentially increase, posing a threat to the usability of regions of low earth orbit. Predicting the long-term trend and density changes for doubled CO2 has implications in determining international space policy and the space insurance industry.

Presently, we are entering what appears to be an extended period of weak solar activity, which should reduce the solar driven variability of the ITM system. Long-term changes in the troposphere may alter the variability of the ITM system due to forcing from below. Climate change has been shown to increase convection and change tidal variability. Changes in tidal forcing from below could produce changes in the variability of the ITM system. Understanding the effects of the forcing from above and below, and how they will influence the detection and prediction of long-term change in the ITM system, is a daunting problem in solar-terrestrial science.

This Special Issue will address the following topic: Is there a long-term change in the Earth’s upper atmosphere that can be attributed to climate change? Submissions are invited that will address the effect of climate change on the Earth’s upper atmosphere, specifically the Ionosphere–Thermosphere–Mesosphere system.

Asst. Prof. Dr. Amal Chandran
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Anthropogenic effects
  • Thermospheric contraction
  • Increased CO2 cooling
  • Space debris in LEO
  • Increased debris lifetime
  • Lower atmosphere forcing
  • Tidal and wave forcing of upper atmosphere

Published Papers (2 papers)

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17 pages, 3329 KiB  
Article
Influence of Wintertime Polar Vortex Variation on the Climate over the North Pacific during Late Winter and Spring
by Kequan Zhang, Tao Wang, Mian Xu and Jiankai Zhang
Atmosphere 2019, 10(11), 670; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10110670 - 01 Nov 2019
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 2936
Abstract
The effects of wintertime stratospheric polar vortex variation on the climate over the North Pacific Ocean during late winter and spring are analyzed using the National Centers for Environmental Predictions, version 2 (NCEP2) reanalysis dataset. The analysis revealed that, during weak polar vortex [...] Read more.
The effects of wintertime stratospheric polar vortex variation on the climate over the North Pacific Ocean during late winter and spring are analyzed using the National Centers for Environmental Predictions, version 2 (NCEP2) reanalysis dataset. The analysis revealed that, during weak polar vortex (WPV) events, there are noticeably lower geopotential height anomalies over the Bering Sea and greater height anomalies over the central part of the North Pacific Ocean than during strong polar vortex (SPV) events. The formation of the dipolar structure of the geopotential height anomalies is due to a weakened polar jet and a strengthened mid-latitude jet in the troposphere via geostrophic equilibrium. The mechanisms responsible for the changes in the tropospheric jet over the North Pacific Ocean are summarized as follows: when the stratospheric polar westerly is decelerated, the high-latitude eastward waves slow down, and the enhanced equatorward propagation of the eddy momentum flux throughout the troposphere at 60° N. Consequently, the eddy-driven jet over the North Pacific Ocean also shows a southward displacement, leading to a weaker polar jet but a stronger mid-latitude westerly compared with those during the SPV events. Furthermore, anomalous anti-cyclonic flows associated with the higher pressure over the North Pacific Ocean during WPV events induce a warming sea surface temperature (SST) over the western and central parts of the North Pacific Ocean and a cooling SST over the Bering Sea and along the west coast of North America. This SST pattern can last until May, which favors the persistence of the anti-cyclonic flows over the North Pacific Ocean during WPV events. A well-resolved stratosphere and coupled atmosphere-ocean model (CMCC-CMS) can basically reproduce the impacts of stratospheric polar vortex variations on the North Pacific climate as seen in NCEP2 data, although the simulated dipole of geopotential height anomalies is shifted more southward. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Climate Change on Earth's Upper Atmosphere)
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18 pages, 37034 KiB  
Article
Magnitudes of Gravity Wave Pseudomomentum Flux Derived by Combining COSMIC Radio Occultation and ERA-Interim Reanalysis Data
by Xiaohua Xu, Juan Li, Jia Luo and Daocheng Yu
Atmosphere 2019, 10(10), 598; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos10100598 - 02 Oct 2019
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2104
Abstract
In the present work, dry temperature profiles provided by the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) radio occultation (RO) mission and the horizontal wind field provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis are combined for the [...] Read more.
In the present work, dry temperature profiles provided by the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) radio occultation (RO) mission and the horizontal wind field provided by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) reanalysis are combined for the first time to retrieve the magnitudes of gravity wave (GW) pseudomomentum flux (PMF). The vertical wave parameters, including Brunt–Väisälä frequencies, potential energy (Ep), and vertical wavelengths, are retrieved from RO temperature profiles. The intrinsic frequencies, which are retrieved from the horizontal wind field of ERA-Interim, are combined with the vertical wave parameters to derive the horizontal wavelengths and magnitudes of the PMF of GWs. The feasibility of this new strategy is validated first by comparing the distributions of GW parameters during June, July, and August (JJA) 2006 derived this way with those derived by previous studies. Then the seasonal and interannual variations of the distributions of GW PMF for three altitude ranges, 20–25 km, 25–30 km, and 30–35 km, over the globe during the seven years from June 2006 to May 2013 are presented. It is shown that the three altitude intervals share similar seasonal and interannual distribution patterns of GW PMF, while the magnitudes of GW PMF decrease with increased height and the hot spots of GW activity are the most discernable at the lowest altitude interval of 20–25 km. The maximums of PMF usually occur at latitudes around 60° in the winter hemispheres, where eastward winds prevail, and the second maximums exist over the subtropics of the summer hemispheres, where deep convection occurs. In addition, the influence of quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) on both GW PMF and zonal winds is discernible over subtropical regions. The present work complements the GW PMF interannual variation patterns derived based on satellite observations by previous studies in terms of the altitude range, latitude coverage, and time period analyzed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Effects of Climate Change on Earth's Upper Atmosphere)
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