NASA NTRS · 20010050101
Defining the Polar Vortex Edge Using an N2O: Potential Temperature Correlation Versus the Nash Criterion: A Comparison
Abstract
A prerequisite to study phenomena in the winter stratospheric polar vortex is the separation of measurements inside and outside the dynamical barrier of the vortex edge. We describe a technique to accurately determine the inner edge of the vortex boundary region from measurements of potential temperature and a trace gas, such as N2O, and apply it to in situ aircraft and balloon measurements from the SOLVE/THESE02000 Arctic campaign. The method may be used to refine the Nash algorithm, which, due to the inherently coarser resolution of potential vorticity on which it is dependent, may misidentify the inner edge by up to 466 km, and omit the identification of small, extra-vortex filaments within the vortex.
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Greenblatt, Jeffery B., Jost, Hans-Juerg, Loewenstein, Max, Podolske, James R., Bui, T. Paul, Hurst, Dale F., Elkins, James W., Herman, Robert L., Webster, Christopher R., Schauffler, Sue M., Hipskind, R. Stephen. 2001-01-01. Defining the Polar Vortex Edge Using an N2O: Potential Temperature Correlation Versus the Nash Criterion: A Comparison. https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/20010050101
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