Search NASA⌕ Search

Engineering topics

Keckhut, P.

Publications and source records attributed to Keckhut, P..

9 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS1999

Stratospheric Temperature Changes: Observations and Model Simulations

This paper reviews observations of stratospheric temperatures that have been made over a period of several decades. Those observed temperatures have been used to assess variations and trends in stratospheric temperatures. A wide range of observation datasets have been used, comprising measurements by radiosonde (1940s to the present), satellite (1979 - present), lidar (1979 - present) and rocketsonde (periods varying with location, but most terminating by about the mid-1990s). In addition, trends have also been assessed from meteorological analyses, based on radiosonde and/or satellite data, and products based on assimilating observations into a general circulation model. Radiosonde and satellite data indicate a cooling trend of the annual-mean lower stratosphere since about 1980. Over the period 1979-1994, the trend is 0.6K/decade. For the period prior to 1980, the radiosonde data exhibit a substantially weaker long-term cooling trend. In the northern hemisphere, the cooling trend is about 0.75K/decade in the lower stratosphere, with a reduction in the cooling in mid-stratosphere (near 35 km), and increased cooling in the upper stratosphere (approximately 2 K per decade at 50 km). Model simulations indicate that the depletion of lower stratospheric ozone is the dominant factor in the observed lower stratospheric cooling. In the middle and upper stratosphere both the well-mixed greenhouse gases (such as CO) and ozone changes contribute in an important manner to the cooling.

Ramaswamy, V.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Validation of UARS Microwave Limb Sounder Temperature and Pressure Measurements

The accuracy and precision of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) atmospheric temperature and tangent-point pressure measurements are described. Temperatures and tangent- point pressure (atmospheric pressure at the tangent height of the field of view boresight) are retrieved from a 15-channel 63-GHz radiometer measuring O2 microwave emissions from the stratosphere and mesosphere. The Version 3 data (first public release) contains scientifically useful temperatures from 22 to 0.46 hPa. Accuracy estimates are based on instrument performance, spectroscopic uncertainty and retrieval numerics, and range from 2.1 K at 22 hPa to 4.8 K at 0.46 hPa for temperature and from 200 m (equivalent log pressure) at 10 hPa to 300 m at 0.1 hPa. Temperature accuracy is limited mainly by uncertainty in instrument characterization, and tangent-point pressure accuracy is limited mainly by the accuracy of spectroscopic parameters. Precisions are around 1 K and 100 m. Comparisons are presented among temperatures from MLS, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) stratospheric analysis and lidar stations at Table Mountain, California, Observatory of Haute Provence (OHP), France, and Goddard Spaceflight Center, Maryland. MLS temperatures tend to be 1-2 K lower than NMC and lidar, but MLS is often 5 - 10 K lower than NMC in the winter at high latitudes, especially within the northern hemisphere vortex. Winter MLS and OHP (44 deg N) lidar temperatures generally agree and tend to be lower than NMC. Problems with Version 3 MLS temperatures and tangent-point pressures are identified, but the high precision of MLS radiances will allow improvements with better algorithms planned for the future.

Fishbein, E. F.↗
NASA NTRS1996

Validation of UARS Microwave Limb Sounder Temperature and Pressure Measurements

The accuracy and precision of the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) atmospheric temperature and tangent-point pressure measurements are described. Temperatures and tangent-point pressure are retrieved from a 15-channel 63-GHz radiometer measuring O 2 microwave emissions from the stratosphere and mesosphere.

atmospheric↗
NASA NTRS1989

Seasonal variation of the 11 year solar cycle effect on the middle atmosphere: Role of the quasi biennial oscillation

Before the introduction of the Quasi Biennial Oscillation (Q.B.O.) in the study of the solar atmosphere relationship by Labitzke (1987) and Labitzke and Van Loon (1988), the only region of the atmosphere where an effect of a change in solar activity was generally admitted was the mesosphere. The response of the mesosphere, in phase with the solar activity, was found to be about one order of magnitude above model expectancy (around 10 to 20 Kelvin). It was observed independently of the season and maximized around 70 km (Chanin et al. 1987). However, from the same study, it was shown that the response of the stratosphere of opposite sign, clearly seen during winter and autumn, was at the threshold of detection in spring and summer. In the stratosphere, it was shown later that the separation of the data taking into account the sign of the Q.B.O. amplifies the negative correlation of the stratospheric temperature with solar activity in winter; it then becomes more significantly negative for the East phase of the Q.B.O. than when the data are all mixed (Labitzke and Chanin 1988). The studies of the seasonal response of the atmosphere to solar effect is crucial to understand the possible mechanism responsible of such a solar activity Q.B.O. relationship, knowing that the global dynamic circulation is quite different according to the seasons. The question is examined as to whether such separation of the data according to the phase of the Q.B.O. has any impact on the solar response of the middle atmosphere for seasons other than winter.

Keckhut, P.↗