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Callis, Linwood B.

Publications and source records attributed to Callis, Linwood B..

Temperature variations in the middle and upper stratosphere: 1979-1992

Temperature variations in the stratosphere from 1979 to 1992 are investigated using 365-day running mean of the National Meteorological Center gridded analysis temperature data. Significant variations are seen at all levels between 70 and 1 mbar. The middle stratosphere shows temperature peaks during 1982 and 1983. The upper stratosphere has significant temperature declines between 1 and 10 mbar from 1981 to 1984. Temperatures at all levels recover to near their prior values after 1984, with the 5-mbar temperatures requiring the greatest time to fully recover. The temperature declines at 1 mbar occur in both hemispheres, over all longitudes, and in every month of the year. The decreases are largest in the middle latitudes and the polar regions and during the fall and the winter months. Such temperature variations, which appear to be of natural origin, must be taken into consideration when searching for temperature trends caused by the increase of CO2 or other greenhouse gases which affect the radiative balance of the Earth-atmosphere system or stratospheric ozone.

Lambeth, James D.↗

Stratospheric photochemical studies with Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) measurements

The photochemical partitioning of stratospheric odd chlorine and odd nitrogen is examined utilizing diurnal model calculations and data from the ATMOS experiment. This experiment, conducted during April-May 1985, employed a solar occultation method to obtain vertical profiles of temperature and various other trace constituents at 30 deg N and 48 deg S latitudes. The ATMOS data set confirms the presence of N2O5 in the stratosphere; however, the observed mixing ratios at sunset are more than a factor of 2 less than the calculated values. It is shown that the conversion of N2O5 into HNO3 could take place in the presence of aerosol surfaces quickly enough to affect the N2O5 mixing ratio below 30 km. Inclusion of the heterogeneous reaction brings the calculated N2O5 profile below 30 km into closer agreement with the ATMOS data.

Natarajan, Murali↗

Ozone depletion in the high latitude lower stratosphere - 1979-1990

Archived Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE, SAGE II) and Solar and Backscattered Ultraviolet (SBUV) data are used to examine lower stratospheric O3 variations at 50 deg latitude in both hemispheres. These data indicate that from 1979 to 1985, 73-90 percent of the total O3 changes have occurred below approximately 25 km in altitude. Significant O3 depletions (up to 15 percent) have occurred in the partial column (127-15.8 mbar) in both hemispheres with indications of a recovery after 1985. Two-dimensional model simulations of O3 changes from 1979 to 1990 have been carried out. Comparisons with O3 data are presented. Model results suggest that by 1985, significant declines in global O3 were caused by destruction by odd nitrogen associated with long-term variations in the flux of precipitating relativistic electrons (2.6 percent); solar UV flux changes (1.8 percent); the dilution effect associated with the Antarctic O3 hole (1.2 percent); and atmospheric increases in CH4, N2O, and chlorofluorocarbons (0.4 percent). Analyses of drift-corrected SBUV and Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer data and model calculations indicate that between 1979 and 1985, reductions of 4.3 to 4.8 percent in total column O3 averaged between 65 deg S and 65 deg N have occurred. Calculations indicate a full global O3 decline of 5.2 percent (peak-to-peak) or 6 percent (annual average) between 1979 and 1985 with a partial recovery between 1985 and 1989.

Callis, Linwood B.↗

Precipitating relativistic electrons - Their long-term effect on stratospheric odd nitrogen levels

Using electron count rate data at geostationary orbit, daily energy spectra, extending from 30 keV to 15 MeV, have been developed for trapped relativistic electrons at 6.6 earth radii. These spectra have been used to model the flux of these electrons into the atmosphere at 120 km. Energy deposition calculations permit daily sources of HO(x) and NO(y) to be calculated at auroral and subauroral latitudes due to relativistic electron precipitation (REP) for the period June 13, 1979, through June 4, 1988. Both short-term and long-term source variations are quite large over the period considered. The results suggest that a significant contribution to the anomalously large and unexplained global O3 declines between 1979 and 1985 has been made by the catalytic destruction of O3 by odd nitrogen in the lower stratosphere at mid to high latitudes. The results also provide evidence for a clear and strong linkage between solar variability, the state of the magnetosphere, and the chemical climatological state of the middle and lower atmosphere.

Callis, Linwood B.↗

Examination of stratospheric ozone photochemistry in light of recent data

The consistency of stratospheric ozone photochemistry is examined using data from the Atmospheric Trace Molecule Spectroscopy (ATMOS) and LIMS experiments. The ATMOS experiment measured vertical profiles of important trace constituents and temperature in the stratosphere during 1985. These observations have been used to constrain the levels of odd nitrogen and odd chlorine in a photochemical model. This model yields O3 mixing ratios that are in good agreement with the observations. The deviation in ozone is less than 20 percent except near 52 km. The updated model has also been used in conjunction with the LIMS data to simulate the stratospheric photochemistry corresponding to the 1979 time period.

Natarajan, Murali↗

The stratosphere - Climatologies of the radiative heating and cooling rates and the diabatically diagnosed net circulation fields

Stratospheric solar, IR, and net radiative heating are calculated on a monthly basis using solar and IR radiative codes and satellite derived distributions of ozone, water vapor, and temperature. Divergence-free, zonally averaged, advective fields are diagnosed using the calculated diabatic heating; associated stream functions are derived. The stratospheric transport of inert tracers is studied. Analysis of the diagnosed advective fields reveal that: (1) entry into the mid- to upper stratosphere of tropospheric air is mainly from altitude regions of + or - 10 deg at the equatorial tropopause; (2) at latitudes poleward of + or - 15 deg, tracers transported from the troposphere into the stratosphere are transported toward the pole and then downward and out of the stratosphere; and (3) the presence of net cooling cells in the lower stratospheric polar regions is important. The interannual variability of the diabatic circulation is estimated using heating and advection fields derived from LIMS data.

Callis, Linwood B.↗

Ozone and nitrogen dioxide changes in the stratosphere during 1979-84

Analyses of stratospheric nitrogen dioxide distributions as measured by four different satellite experiments indicate midlatitude increases of up to 75 percent during the 1979-84 period. These increases are attributed to enhanced upper atmospheric formation of odd nitrogen during solar cycle 21 with downward transport to the stratosphere. The increases in NO2 provide an explanation for the recently observed dramatic springtime minima in the Antarctic ozone and suggest the reason for the reported midlatitude stratospheric ozone decreases observed by satellite and ground-based stations since the mid 1970s.

Callis, Linwood B.↗