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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 22, NO. 10, PAGES 1237–1240, 1995

Isentropic Mixing in the Arctic Stratosphere During the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 Winters

Steven P. Dahlberg

Climate System Research Program, Department of Meteorology, Texas A&M University, College Station


Kenneth P. Bowman

Climate System Research Program, Department of Meteorology, Texas A&M University, College Station


Abstract

Dynamic isolation of the winter Arctic circumpolar vortex during 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 (the second and third northern hemisphere winters of the UARS mission) is studied using quasi-horizontal isentropic trajectories. Ejection of vortex air and entrainment of mid-latitude air into the vortex are quantified and compared with climatological values obtained from the analysis of 16 Arctic winters. A number of unusual features of both winters are discussed. The most notable features are the anomalous isolation experienced by the vortex during December 1992 and the unusual degree of isolation and persistence of the vortex during February and March of both years. The 1992-1993 winter season is the most consistently isolated vortex on record. Only during January 1993, when entrainment is large, is this pattern of extreme isolation broken.

Received 7 November 1994; accepted 19 January 1995.

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Citation: Dahlberg, S. P., and K. P. Bowman (1995), Isentropic Mixing in the Arctic Stratosphere During the 1992-1993 and 1993-1994 Winters, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22(10), 1237–1240.