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The columnar approach of gravity wave (GW) parameterisations in weather and climate models has been identified as a potential reason for dynamical biases in middle atmospheric dynamics. For example, GW momentum flux (GWMF) discrepancies between models and observations at 60° S arising through the lack of horizontal orographic GW propagation is suspected to cause deficiencies in representing the Antarctic polar vortex. However, due to the decomposition of the model domains onto different computing tasks for parallelisation, communication between horizontal grid boxes is computationally extremely expensive, making horizontal propagation of GWs unfeasible for global chemistry-climate simulations. To overcome this issue, we here present a simplified solution approximating horizontal GW propagation through redistribution of the GWMF at one single altitude by means of tailor-made redistribution maps. To generate the global redistribution maps averaged for each grid box, we use a parameterisation describing orography as a set of mountain ridges with specified location, orientation and height combined with a ray-tracing model describing lateral propagation of so-generated mountain waves. In the global chemistry-climate model (CCM) EMAC (ECHAM MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry), these maps then allow us to redistribute the GW momentum flux horizontally at one level obtaining an affordable overhead of computing resources. The results of our simulations show GWMF and drag patterns which are horizontally more spread-out than with the purely columnar approach, GWs now also are present above the ocean and regions without mountains. In this paper, we provide a detailed description of how the redistribution maps are computed and how the GWMF redistribution is implemented in the CCM. Moreover, an analysis shows why 15 km is the ideal altitude for the redistribution. First results with the redistributed orographic GWMF provide clear evidence that the redistributed GW drag in the Southern Hemisphere has the potential to modify and improve Antarctic polar vortex dynamics, thereby paving the way for enhanced credibility of CCM simulations and projections of polar stratospheric ozone.

In the lower stratosphere during winter, variability of stratospheric ozone is governed primarily by transport dynamics induced by wave-mean flow interactions. Here, we focus on interannual co-variations between the zonal mean ozone distribution and the strength of the polar vortex during northern hemispheric winter. Specifically, we study co-variability between the seasonal means of the ozone field from modern reanalyses and polar cap-averaged temperature at 100 hPa, which represents a robust and well-defined index for polar vortex strength. We consider variability in both pressure and isentropic coordinates. In the former case, we find that anomalously weak polar vortex years are associated with increased polar ozone amounts, showing two pronounced local maxima: one in the lower to mid-stratosphere and one just above the polar tropopause. In contrast, in isentropic coordinates, only the mid- to lower stratosphere shows increased ozone, while a small negative ozone anomaly appears in the lowermost stratosphere. These differences are related to contributions due to anomalous adiabatic vertical motion, which are implicit in potential temperature coordinates. In general, our analyses of the ozone budget in the extratropical middle stratosphere show that interannual polar ozone variability can be explained by a combination of anomalous diabatic downwelling and quasi-isentropic eddy mixing that are associated with consecutive, counteracting anomalous ozone tendencies on daily time scales. We find that up to 86 % of the total variability of polar column ozone in the stratosphere is associated with year-by-year variations in polar vortex strength based on MLS observations for the winter seasons 2005-2020., The 28th IUGG General Assembly (IUGG2023) (Berlin 2023)

In this study, we perform dedicated model experiments with the ECHAM/MESSy (European Center Hamburg Model / Modular Earth Submodel System) Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC, Jöckel et al. 2005, 2010, 2016) model version 2.54.0.3. to quantify the modification of the circulation response to CO2 forcing by stratospheric ozone. Specifically, we compare simulations with pre-industrial (piCtrl) and with quadrupled CO2 climate conditions, in which stratospheric ozone is either held fixed (4xCO2piO3) or is adapted to the new climate state (4xCO2Ctrl). The diagnosticof the residual circulation and mean age of air shows that ozone changes dampen the CO2-induced BDC acceleration by up to 20%. This damping of the BDC acceleration is caused by an enhancement of the meridional temperature gradient in the lower stratosphere in summer, thereby leading to stronger stratospheric easterlies that suppress wave propagation. Additionally, we find a systematic weakening of the polar vortices in winter and spring. In the SH, ozone reduces the CO2-induced delay of the final warming date by 50 %. The output data that are used for this study are located in the following files: The zonal meanozone fields (for the pre-industrial and 4xCO2 condition) are located in these files: abr4xCO2_O3_ml47_zm_1960-1989_clim.nc; piCtrl_O3_ml47_zm_1960-1989_clim.nc We use v* and w* from the TEM monthly mean climatology data (files with the ending ...TEM_ymm.nc)for calculating the mass streamfunction as well as for the tropical upwelling.In addition, the TEM climatology contains also the EP-flux and its divergence (EPFD). The AoA climatology data (files with the ending ...AoA_1980-2029_ymm.nc) is also used for investigation of the mass transport represented by the BDC. We apply themonthly mean climatology of the temperature, specific humidity, zonal wind and gravity wave drag fields from the files with the ending...plev-ymm.nc. The monthly mean climatology of the shortwave heating rates are in the files with the ending ...._heatsw_pl_ymm.nc. The interaction between the stratosphere and troposphere and the abruptness of the final warming areanalyzed with daily climatological datafrom the files which end with ...._geopot_yd.nc. The standard deviation of these climatologies that are located in the files with the ending ...ymstd.nc (for monthly data) or ...ydstd.nc (for daily data) is used for the significance tests. The tropopause data (for the pre-industrial and 4xCO2 condition) can be found in these two files:C2-4xCO2ctrl_1980-2029_tropop-p-ymm.nc; C2-4xCO2ctrl_1980-2029_tropop-p-ymm.nc For the detection of the final warming date following by the method of Charlton and Polvani (2007), the daily mean climatology of the zonal mean zonal wind(file with the ending..10hPa_60degN/S.nc)is applied.

Air masses within the Asian monsoon anticyclone (AMA) show anomalous signatures in various trace gases. In this study, we analyze how air masses are transported from the planetary boundary layer (PBL) to the AMA via multiannual trajectory anlyses. While previous studies analyzed the PBL to AMA transport mainly for individual monsoon seasons or particular periods, we focus on the climatological perspective and on the interannual and intraseasonal variability. To this end we employ backward trajectories, which were computed using reanalysis data. Based on these trajectories, we analyze air mass transport from the PBL to the AMA during northern summer (June–August) for 14 summer seasons. Further, we backtrack forward trajectories from a free-running chemistry-climate model (CCM) simulation, which includes parametrized Lagrangian convection. The analysis of this additional model data set helps us to carve out robust or sensitive features of PBL to AMA transport with respect to the employed model. Results from both the trajectory model and the Lagrangian CCM emphasize the robustness of the three-dimensional transport pathways from the PBL to the AMA. Air masses are transported upwards on the eastern side of the AMA and are uplifted within the full AMA domain above. While this is in agreement with previous modelling studies, we refine the picture of the so-called "conduit" (Bergman et al., 2013). The contributions from the Tibetan Plateau (TP; 17 % vs. 15 %) and the West Pacific (around 12 %) are similar in both model results. However, the contributions from the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia are considerably larger in the Lagrangian CCM data, which might point towards the importance of convective transport for PBL to AMA transport for these regions. The analysis of both model data sets highlights the interannual and intraseasonal variability with respect to PBL source regions of the AMA. Additionally, we analyze the relation of the interannual east-west displacement of the AMA – which we find to be related to the monsoon Hadley index – to the transport behaviour and find that there are differences for "east" and "west years", the main transport characteristics, however, are comparable. Regarding the intraseasonal variability our trajectory model results show that transport from the PBL over the Tibetan Plateau (TP) to the AMA is weak in early June (less than 4 % of the AMA air masses), whereas in August TP air masses contribute considerably (roughly 24 %). The evolution of the contribution from the TP is supported by data from the Lagrangian CCM and is related to the northward shift of the subtropical jet and the AMA during this period. This result may help to reconcile previous results and further highlights the need of taking the subseasonal (and interannual) variability of the AMA and associated transport into account.

A severe cold spell with surface temperatures reaching 10 K below its climatology hit Eurasia during late February/early March 2018. This cold spell was associated with a Scandinavian blocking pattern followed by an extreme negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phase. Here we explore the predictability of this cold spell/NAO event using ensemble forecasts from the Subseasonalto-Seasonal (S2S) archive of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts. We find that this event was predicted with the observed strength roughly 10 days in advance. However, the probability of the cold spell occurring doubled up to 25 days in advance, when a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) occurred. Our results indicate that the amplitude of the cold spell was increased by a regime shift to the negative NAO phase at the end of February, which was likely favoured by the SSW. We quantify the contribution of the SSW to the enhanced extended-range forecast skill for this particular event by running forecast ensembles in which the evolution of the stratosphere is nudged to (a) the observed evolution, and (b) a time-invariant state. In the experiment with nudging to the observed stratospheric evolution, the probability of a strong cold spell occurring is enhanced to 45%, while it is at its climatological value of 5% when the stratosphere is nudged to a time-invariant state. These results showing enhanced predictability of surface extremes following SSWs extend previous observational evidence, which is mostly based on composite analyses, to a single event. Our results suggest that it is the subsequent evolution throughout the lower stratosphere following the SSW, rather than the occurrence of the SSW itself, that is crucial in coupling to large-scale tropospheric flow patterns. However, we caution that probabilistic gain in predictability alone is insufficient to conclude a causal link between the SSW and the cold spell event.

The Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) is a key feature of the stratosphere that models need to accurately represent in order to simulate surface climate variability and change adequately. For the first time, the Climate Model Intercomparison Project includes in its phase 6 (CMIP6) a set of diagnostics that allow for careful evaluation of the BDC. Here, the BDC is evaluated against observations and reanalyses using historical simulations. CMIP6 results confirm the well-known inconsistency in the sign of BDC trends between observations and models in the middle and upper stratosphere. Nevertheless, the large uncertainty in the observational trend estimates opens the door to compatibility. In particular, when accounting for the limited sampling of the observations, model and observational trend error bars overlap in 40 % of the simulations with available output. The increasing CO2 simulations feature an acceleration of the BDC but reveal a large spread in the middle-to-upper stratospheric trends, possibly related to the parameterized gravity wave forcing. The very close connection between the shallow branch of the residual circulation and surface temperature is highlighted, which is absent in the deep branch. The trends in mean age of air are shown to be more robust throughout the stratosphere than those in the residual circulation.

Analysis of stratospheric transport from an observational point of view is frequently realized by evaluation of the mean age of air values from long-lived trace gases. However, this provides more insight into general transport strength and less into its mechanism. Deriving complete transit time distributions (age spectra) is desirable, but their deduction from direct measurements is difficult. It is so far primarily based on model work. This paper introduces a modified version of an inverse method to infer age spectra from mixing ratios of short-lived trace gases and investigates its basic principle in an idealized model simulation. For a full description of transport seasonality the method includes an imposed seasonal cycle to gain multimodal spectra. An ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model simulation is utilized for a general proof of concept of the method and features an idealized dataset of 40 radioactive trace gases with different chemical lifetimes as well as 40 chemically inert pulsed trace gases to calculate pulse age spectra. It is assessed whether the modified inverse method in combination with the seasonal cycle can provide matching age spectra when chemistry is well-known. Annual and seasonal mean inverse spectra are compared to pulse spectra including first and second moments as well as the ratio between them to assess the performance on these timescales. Results indicate that the modified inverse age spectra match the annual and seasonal pulse age spectra well on global scale beyond 1.5 years of mean age of air. The imposed seasonal cycle emerges as a reliable tool to include transport seasonality in the age spectra. Below 1.5 years of mean age of air, tropospheric influence intensifies and breaks the assumption of single entry through the tropical tropopause, leading to inaccurate spectra, in particular in the Northern Hemisphere. The imposed seasonal cycle wrongly prescribes seasonal entry in this lower region and does not lead to a better agreement between inverse and pulse age spectra without further improvement. Tests with a focus on future application to observational data imply that subsets of trace gases with 5 to 10 species are sufficient for deriving well-matching age spectra. These subsets can also compensate for an average uncertainty of up to ±20 % in the knowledge of chemical lifetime if a deviation of circa ±10 % in modal age and amplitude of the resulting spectra is tolerated.

Major disruptions to the stratospheric circulation have far-reaching effects, including increased likelihood of snowstorms, growth of the ozone hole, and interference in global telecommunications.

Mean age of air (AoA) is a common diagnostic for the strength of the stratospheric overturning circulation in both climate models and observations. AoA climatologies and its trends over the recent decades of model simulations and proxies derived from observations of long-lived tracers do not agree. Satellite observations show much older air than climate models and while most models compute a clear decrease of AoA over the last decades, a thirty-year timeseries from measurements shows a statistically non-significant positive trend. Measurement-based AoA derivations are often based on observations of the trace gas SF6, a fairly long-lived gas with a near-linear increase of emissions during the recent decades. However, SF6 has chemical sinks in the mesosphere, which are not considered in most model studies. In this study, we explicitly compute the chemical SF6 sinks based on chemical processes in the global chemistry-climate model EMAC. We show that good agreement of stratospheric AoA in EMAC and MIPAS is reached through the inclusion of chemical SF6 sinks, as those lead to a strong increase of the stratospheric AoA and thereby to a better agreement with MIPAS satellite observations. Remaining larger differences in high latitudes are addressed and possible reasons are discussed. Subsequently, we demonstrate that also the AoA trends are strongly influenced by the chemical SF6 sinks. Under consideration of the SF6 sinks, the AoA trends over the recent decades reverse sign from negative to positive. We conduct sensitivity simulations which reveal that this sign reversal results neither from trends of the stratospheric circulation strength, nor from changes in the strength of the SF6 sinks. We illustrate that even a constant SF6 destruction rate causes a positive trend in the derived AoA, since the amount of depleted SF6 scales with the increasing SF6 abundance itself. In our simulations, this effect overcompensates the impact of the accelerating stratospheric circulation which naturally decreases AoA. Although various sources of uncertainties cannot be quantified in detail in this study, our results suggest that the inclusion of SF6 depletion in models has the potential to reconcile the AoA trends of models and observations.

Sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs) are impressive fluid dynamical events in which large and rapid temperature increases in the winter polar stratosphere (⁓10‐50km) are associated with a complete reversal of the climatological wintertime westerly winds. SSWs are caused by the breaking of planetary‐scale waves that propagate upwards from the troposphere. During an SSW, the polar vortex breaks down, accompanied by rapid descent and warming of air in polar latitudes, mirrored by ascent and cooling above the warming. The rapid warming and descent of the polar air column affects tropospheric weather, shifting jet streams, storm tracks, and the Northern Annular Mode, making cold air outbreaks over North America and Eurasia more likely. SSWs affect the atmosphere above the stratosphere, producing widespread effects on atmospheric chemistry, temperatures, winds, neutral (non‐ionized) particles and electron densities, and electric fields. These effects span both hemispheres. Given their crucial role in the whole atmosphere, SSWs are also seen as a key process to analyze in climate change studies and subseasonal to seasonal prediction. This work reviews the current knowledge on the most important aspects of SSWs, from the historical background to dynamical processes, modelling, chemistry, and impact on other atmospheric layers. ISSN:8755-1209 ISSN:0096-1043 ISSN:1944-9208

Recent observations show a significant decrease of lower stratospheric (LS) ozone concentrations in tropical and mid-latitude regions since 1998. By analyzing 31 chemistry climate model (CCM) simulations performed for the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative (CCMI), we find a large spread in the 1998–2018 trend patterns between different CCMs and between different realizations performed with the same CCM. The latter, in particular, indicates that natural variability strongly influences LS ozone trends. However none of the model simulations reproduces the observed ozone trend structure of coherent negative trends in the LS. In contrast to the observations, most models show a dipole trend pattern in the LS with negative trends in the tropics and positive trends in the northern mid-latitudes or vice versa. To investigate the influence of natural variability on the LS ozone trends we analyze the observational trends and the models' trend probability distributions for slightly varied post-ODS (ozone depleting substances) periods. Generally, modeled and observed LS trends remain robust for different post-ODS periods, however observational data show a systematic change towards weaker mid-latitude trends forced by natural variability for certain periods. Moreover we can show that in the tropics the observed trends agree quite well with the models' trend distribution, whereas in the mid-latitudes the observational trend is a rather extreme value of the models' distribution. We further investigate the LS ozone trends for extended periods reaching into the future and find that all models develop a dipole trend pattern in the future, i.e. in almost all models the trends converge to constant values for the entire period 1998–2060. An investigation of interannual ozone variability also reveals a clear dipole pattern in ozone variability in all CCMs and in observational data, however it is more pronounced in the models. Thus, although the LS ozone variability pattern is similar, the probability of overall negative LS ozone trends simultaneously in the tropics and mid-latitudes is higher in observations. To access the dynamical influence on LS ozone trends, the models' tropical upwelling trends are correlated against their LS ozone trends. For the period 1998–2018 tropical ozone trends are negatively correlated (−0.83) and mid-latitude trends are positively correlated (+0.49). However, the correlation in the mid-latitudes is rather weak and not robust for slightly varied time periods, which indicates that other processes like two-way mixing play an important role here, too.

Climate models consistently predict an acceleration of the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) due to climate change in the 21st century. However, the strength of this acceleration varies considerably among individual models, which constitutes a notable source of uncertainty for future climate projections. To shed more light upon the magnitude of this uncertainty and on its causes, we analyze the stratospheric mean age of air (AoA) of 10 climate projection simulations from the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative phase 1 (CCMI-I), covering the period between 1960 and 2100. In agreement with previous multi-model studies, we find a large model spread in the magnitude of the AoA trend over the simulation period. Differences between future and past AoA are found to be predominantly due to differences in mixing (reduced aging by mixing and recirculation) rather than differences in residual mean transport. We furthermore analyze the mixing efficiency, a measure of the relative strength of mixing for given residual mean transport, which was previously hypothesized to be a model constant. Here, the mixing efficiency is found to vary not only across models, but also over time in all models. Changes in mixing efficiency are shown to be closely related to changes in AoA and quantified to roughly contribute 10% to the long-term AoA decrease over the 21st century. Additionally, mixing efficiency variations are shown to considerably enhance model spread in AoA changes. To understand these mixing efficiency variations, we also present a consistent dynamical framework based on diffusive closure, which highlights the role of basic state potential vorticity gradients in controlling mixing efficiency and therefore aging by mixing.

A severe cold spell with surface temperatures reaching 10 K below climatology hit Eurasia during late February/early March 2018. This cold spell was associated with a Scandinavian blocking pattern followed by an extreme negative North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) phase. Here we explore the predictability of this cold spell/NAO event using ensemble forecasts from the Subseasonal-to-Seasonal (S2S) archive. We find that this event was predicted with the observed strength roughly 10 days in advance. However, the probability of occurrence of the cold spell was doubled up to 25 days in advance, when a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) occurred. Our results indicate that the amplitude of the cold spell was increased by the regime shift to the negative NAO phase at the end of February, which was likely favored by the SSW. We quantify the contribution of the SSW to the enhanced extended-range forecast skill for this particular event by running forecast ensembles in which the evolution of the stratosphere is nudged to a) the observed evolution, and b) a time invariant state. In the experiment with the observed stratospheric evolution nudged, the probability of occurrence of a strong cold spell is enhanced to 45%, while it is at its climatological value of 5% when the stratosphere is nudged to a time invariant state. These results showing enhanced predictability of surface extremes following SSWs extend previous observational evidence, which is mostly based on composite analyses, to a single event. Our results support that it is the subsequent evolution throughout the lower stratosphere following the SSW, rather than the occurrence of the SSW itself, that is crucial in coupling to large-scale tropospheric flow patterns. However, we caution that probabilistic gain in predictability alone is insufficient to conclude about a causal link between the SSW and the cold spell event.

Energy and momentum deposition from planetary-scale Rossby waves as well as from small-scale gravity waves (GWs) largely control stratospheric dynamics. Interactions between these different wave types, however, complicate the quantification of their individual contribution to the overall dynamical state of the middle atmosphere. In state-of-the-art general circulation models (GCMs), the majority of the GW spectrum cannot be resolved and therefore has to be parameterised. This is commonly implemented in two discrete schemes, one for GWs that originate from flow over orographic obstacles and one for all other kinds of GWs (non-orographic GWs). In this study, we attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the interactions of resolved with parameterised wave driving and of their influence on the stratospheric zonal winds and on the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC). For this, we set up a GCM time slice experiment with two sensitivity simulations: one without orographic GWs and one without non-orographic GWs. Our findings include an acceleration of the polar vortices, which has historically been one of the main reasons for including explicit GW parameterisations in GCMs. Further, we find inter-hemispheric differences in BDC changes when omitting GWs that can be explained by wave compensation and amplification effects. These are partly evoked through local changes in the refractive properties of the atmosphere caused by the omitted GW drag and a thereby increased planetary wave propagation. However, non-local effects on the flow can act to suppress vertical wave fluxes into the stratosphere for a very strong polar vortex. Moreover, we study mean age of stratospheric air to investigate the impact of missing GWs on tracer transport. On the basis of this analysis, we suggest that the larger ratio of planetary waves to GWs leads to enhanced horizontal mixing, which can have a large impact on stratospheric tracer distributions.

While models of the Earth system gain more and more complexity, a need emerges to establish model hierarchies and to utilize simplified models to improve process understanding. The Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) was developed with the aim to provide an environment to allow for model configurations and set-ups of varying complexity, and as of now the hierarchy reaches from a chemical box model to the full coupled ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) Chemistry-Climate model. In the current study, we present and document the development of a new simplified set-up within the ECHAM/MESSy model, namely the dry dynamical core model set-up ECHAM/MESSy IdeaLized (EMIL). The set-up is achieved by the implementation of a new submodel for relaxation of temperature and horizontal winds to given background values (the RELAX submodel), which replaces all other physics submodels in the EMIL set-up. The RELAX submodel incorporates options to set the needed parameters (e.g. equilibrium temperature, relaxation time and damping coefficient) to functions used frequently in the past (given by Held and Suarez, 1994; Polvani and Kushner, 2002). Test simulations with the EMIL model set-up show that results from earlier studies with other dry dynamical core models are reproduced under same set-ups. Furthermore, modifications to the previously used set-ups are tested, with the following main findings: 1) lowering the equilibrium temperature in the lower stratosphere at winter polar high latitudes to more realistic values (i.e. below observed temperatures) results in high latitudes temperature profiles in the model closer to observations, and 2) when replacing the idealized topography to generate planetary waves by mid-tropospheric wave-like heating (as suggested in a previous study), the response of the tropospheric jet to changes in the equilibrium temperature is strongly damped, indicating that the wave-like heating has to be used with care. As application examples, we present simulations with simplified chemistry to study the impact of dynamical variability and idealized changes on tracer transport, and simulations of idealized monsoon circulations forced by localized heating. The ability to simulate dynamical systems and to incorporate passive and chemical active tracers in the EMIL set-up demonstrates the potential for future studies of tracer transport in the idealized dynamical model.

Mean age of air (AoA) is a diagnostic of transport along the stratospheric Brewer-Dobson circulation. While models consistently show negative trends, long-term time series (1975–2016) of AoA derived from observations show non-significant positive trends in mean AoA in the northern hemisphere. This discrepancy between observed and modeled mean AoA trends is still not resolved. There are uncertainties and assumptions required when deriving AoA from trace gas observations. At the same time, AoA from climate models is subject to uncertainties, too. In this paper, we focus on the uncertainties due to the parameter selection in the method that is used to derive mean AoA from SF6 measurements in Engel et al. (2009) and Engel et al. (2017). To correct for the non-linear increase in SF6 concentrations, a quadratic fit to the time-series at the reference location, i.e. the tropical surface, is used. For this derivation, the width of the AoA distribution (age spectrum) has to be assumed. In addition, to choose the number of years the quadratic fit is performed for, the fraction of the age spectrum to be considered has to be assumed. Even though the uncertainty range due to all different aspects has already been taken into account for the total errors on the AoA values, the systematic influence of the parameter selection on AoA trends is described for the first time in the present study. In addition, a method to derive mean AoA is evaluated that applies a convolution to the reference time series. The resulting mean AoA and its trend only depend on an assumption about the ratio of moments. Also in that case, it is found that the larger the ratio of moments, the more the AoA trend gravitates towards the negative. The linear tracer and SF6 AoA is found to agree within 0.3 % in the mean and 6 % in the trend. The different methods and parameter selections were then applied to the balloon borne SF6 and CO2 observations. We found the same systematic changes in mean AoA trend dependent on the specific selection. When applying a parameter choice that is suggested by the model results, the AoA trend is reduced from 0.15 years/decade to 0.07 years/decade. It illustrates that correctly constraining those parameters is crucial for correct mean AoA and trend estimates and still remains a challenge in the real atmosphere. Engel, A., Möbius, T., Bönisch, H., Schmidt, U., Heinz, R., Levin, I., Atlas, E., Aoki, S., Nakazawa, T., Sugawara, S., et al.: Age of stratospheric air unchanged within uncertainties over the past 30 years, Nature Geoscience, 2, 28, 2009. Engel, A., Bönisch, H., Ullrich, M., Sitals, R., Membrive, O., Danis, F., and Crevoisier, C.: Mean age of stratospheric air derived from AirCore observations, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 17, 6825–6838, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-17-6825-2017, 2017.

The South Asian High (SAH) is an important component of the summer monsoon system in Asia. In this study we investigate the location and drivers of the SAH at 100 hPa during the boreal summers of 1979 to 2014 on interannual, seasonal and synoptic timescales using seven reanalyses and observational data. Our comparison of the different reanalyses focuses especially on the bimodality of the SAH, i.e. the two preferred modes of the SAH centre location: the Iranian Plateau to the west and the Tibetan Plateau to the east. We find that only the National Centers for Environmental Prediction–National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCEP–NCAR) reanalysis shows a clear bimodal structure of the SAH centre distribution with respect to daily and pentad (5 day) mean data. Furthermore, the distribution of the SAH centre location is highly variable from year to year. As in simple model studies, which connect the SAH to heating in the tropics, we find that the mean seasonal cycle of the SAH and its centre are dominated by the expansion of convection in the South Asian region (70–130° E × 15–30° N) on the south-eastern border of the SAH. A composite analysis of precipitation and outgoing long-wave radiation data with respect to the location of the SAH centre reveals that a more westward (eastward) location of the SAH is related to stronger (weaker) convection and rainfall over India and weaker (stronger) precipitation over the western Pacific.

Climate model simulations show an acceleration of the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC) in response to climate change. While the general mechanisms for the BDC strengthening are widely understood, there are still open questions concerning the influence of the details of the wave driving. Mean age of stratospheric air (AoA) is a useful transport diagnostic for assessing changes in the BDC. Analyzing AoA from a subset of Chemistry–Climate Model Initiative part 1 climate projection simulations, we find a remarkable agreement between most of the models in simulating the largest negative AoA trends in the extratropical lower to middle stratosphere of both hemispheres (approximately between 20 and 25 geopotential kilometers (gpkm) and 20–50∘ N and S). We show that the occurrence of AoA trend minima in those regions is directly related to the climatological AoA distribution, which is sensitive to an upward shift of the circulation in response to climate change. Also other factors like a reduction of aging by mixing (AbM) and residual circulation transit times (RCTTs) contribute to the AoA distribution changes by widening the AoA isolines. Furthermore, we analyze the time evolution of AbM and RCTT trends in the extratropics and examine the connection to possible drivers focusing on local residual circulation strength, net tropical upwelling and wave driving. However, after the correction for a vertical shift of pressure levels, we find only seasonally significant trends of residual circulation strength and zonal mean wave forcing (resolved and unresolved) without a clear relation between the trends of the analyzed quantities. This indicates that additional causative factors may influence the AoA, RCTT and AbM trends. In this study, we postulate that the shrinkage of the stratosphere has the potential to influence the RCTT and AbM trends and thereby cause additional AoA changes over time. Czech Science Foundation (GACˇ R) | Ref. 16- 01562J Czech Science Foundation (GACˇ R) | Ref. 18-01625S Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación | Ref. CGL2015-71575-P Xunta de Galicia | Ref. ED481B 2018/103 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad | Ref. RYC-2013-14560

Numerous studies have presented evidence that the Asian summer monsoon anticyclone substantially influences the distribution of trace gases – including water vapour – in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (e.g. Santee et al., 2017). Stratospheric water vapour in turn, is strongly affecting surface climate (cf. e.g. Solomon et al., 2010). Here, we analyse the characteristics of water vapour transport from the upper troposphere in the Asian monsoon region to the stratosphere employing a multiannual simulation with the chemistry-transport model CLaMS (Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere). This simulation is driven by meteorological data from ERA-Interim and features a water vapour tagging that allows us to assess the contributions of different upper tropospheric source regions to the stratospheric water vapour budget. Our results complement the analysis of air mass transport through the Asian monsoon anticyclone by Ploeger et al. (2017). The results show that the transport characteristics for water vapour are mainly determined by the bulk mass transport from the Asian monsoon region. Further, we find that, although the relative contribution from the Asian monsoon region to water vapour in the deep tropics is rather small (average peak contribution of 14 % at 450 K), the Asian monsoon region is very efficient in transporting water vapour to this region (when judged according to its comparatively small spatial extent). With respect to the Northern Hemisphere extratropics, the Asian monsoon region is much more impactful and efficient regarding water vapour transport than e.g. the North American monsoon region (averaged maximum contributions at 400 K of 29 % vs. 6.4 %).

This study investigates the abrupt and severe water vapour decline in the stratosphere beginning in the year 2000 (the "millennium water vapour drop") and other similarly strong stratospheric water vapour reductions by means of various simulations with the state-of-the-art Chemistry-Climate Model (CCM) EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry Model). The model simulations differ with respect to the prescribed sea surface temperatures (SSTs) and whether nudging is applied or not. The CCM EMAC is able to most closely reproduce the signature and pattern of the water vapour drop in agreement with those derived from satellite observations if the model is nudged. Model results confirm that this extraordinary water vapour decline is particularly obvious in the tropical lower stratosphere and is related to a large decrease in cold point temperature. The drop signal propagates under dilution to the higher stratosphere and to the poles via the Brewer–Dobson circulation (BDC). We found that the driving forces for this significant decline in water vapour mixing ratios are tropical sea surface temperature (SST) changes due to a coincidence with a preceding strong El Niño–Southern Oscillation event (1997/1998) followed by a strong La Niña event (1999/2000) and supported by the change of the westerly to the easterly phase of the equatorial stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in 2000. Correct (observed) SSTs are important for triggering the strong decline in water vapour. There are indications that, at least partly, SSTs contribute to the long period of low water vapour values from 2001 to 2006. For this period, the specific dynamical state of the atmosphere (overall atmospheric large-scale wind and temperature distribution) is important as well, as it causes the observed persistent low cold point temperatures. These are induced by a period of increased upwelling, which, however, has no corresponding pronounced signature in SSTs anomalies in the tropics. Our free-running simulations do not capture the drop as observed, because a) the cold point temperature has a low bias and thus the water vapour variability is reduced and b) because they do not simulate the appropriate dynamical state. Large negative water vapour declines are also found in other years and seem to be a feature which can be found after strong combined El Niño/La Niña events if the QBO west phase during La Niña changes to the east phase.

Climate models consistently predict an acceleration of the Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) due to climate change in the 21st century. However, the strength of this acceleration varies considerably among individual models, which constitutes a notable source of uncertainty for future climate projections. To shed more light upon the magnitude of this uncertainty and on its causes, we analyze the stratospheric mean age of air (AoA) of 10 climate projection simulations from the Chemistry Climate Model Initiative phase 1 (CCMI-I), covering the period between 1960 and 2100. In agreement with previous multi-model studies, we find a large model spread in the magnitude of the AoA trend over the simulation period. Differences between future and past AoA are found to be predominantly due to differences in mixing (reduced aging by mixing and recirculation) rather than differences in residual mean transport. We furthermore analyze the mixing efficiency, a measure of the relative strength of mixing for given residual mean transport, which was previously hypothesized to be a model constant. Here, the mixing efficiency is found to vary not only across models, but also over time in all models. Changes in mixing efficiency are shown to be closely related to changes in AoA and quantified to roughly contribute 10 % to the long-term AoA decrease over the 21st century. Additionally, mixing efficiency variations are shown to considerably enhance model spread in AoA changes. To understand these mixing efficiency variations, we also present a consistent dynamical framework based on diffusive closure, which highlights the role of basic state potential vorticity gradients in controlling mixing efficiency and therefore aging by mixing.

Analysis of stratospheric transport from an observational point of view is frequently realized by evaluation of mean age of air values from long-lived trace gases. However, this provides more insight into general transport strength and less into its mechanism. Deriving complete transit time distributions (age spectra) is desirable, but their deduction from direct measurements is difficult and so far primarily achieved by assumptions about dynamics and spectra themselves. This paper introduces a modified version of an inverse method to infer age spectra from mixing ratios of short-lived trace gases. For a full description of transport seasonality the formulation includes an imposed seasonal cycle to gain multimodal spectra. The EMAC model simulation used for a proof of concept features an idealized dataset of 40 radioactive trace gases with different chemical lifetimes as well as 40 chemically inert pulsed trace gases to calculate pulse age spectra. Annual and seasonal mean inverse spectra are compared to pulse spectra including first and second moments as well as the ratio between them to assess the performance on these time scales. Results indicate that the modified inverse age spectra match the annual and seasonal pulse age spectra well on global scale beyond 1.5 years mean age of air. The imposed seasonal cycle emerges as a reliable tool to include transport seasonality in the age spectra. Below 1.5 years mean age of air, tropospheric influence intensifies and breaks the assumption of single entry through the tropical tropopause, leading to inaccurate spectra in particular in the northern hemisphere. The imposed seasonal cycle wrongly prescribes seasonal entry in this lower region and does not lead to a better agreement between inverse and pulse age spectra without further improvement. As the inverse method aims for future implementation on in situ observational data, possible critical factors for this purpose are delineated finally.

Three types of reference simulations, as recommended by the Chemistry–Climate Model Initiative (CCMI), have been performed with version 2.51 of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts – Hamburg (ECHAM)/Modular Earth Submodel System (MESSy) Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model: hindcast simulations (1950–2011), hindcast simulations with specified dynamics (1979–2013), i.e. nudged towards ERA-Interim reanalysis data, and combined hindcast and projection simulations (1950–2100). The manuscript summarizes the updates of the model system and details the different model set-ups used, including the on-line calculated diagnostics. Simulations have been performed with two different nudging set-ups, with and without interactive tropospheric aerosol, and with and without a coupled ocean model. Two different vertical resolutions have been applied. The on-line calculated sources and sinks of reactive species are quantified and a first evaluation of the simulation results from a global perspective is provided as a quality check of the data. The focus is on the intercomparison of the different model set-ups. The simulation data will become publicly available via CCMI and the Climate and Environmental Retrieval and Archive (CERA) database of the German Climate Computing Centre (DKRZ). This manuscript is intended to serve as an extensive reference for further analyses of the Earth System Chemistry integrated Modelling (ESCiMo) simulations.

The stratospheric age of air (AoA) is a useful measure of the overall capabilities of a general circulation model (GCM) to simulate stratospheric transport. Previous studies have reported a large spread in the simulation of AoA by GCMs and coupled chemistry–climate models (CCMs). Compared to observational estimates, simulated AoA is mostly too low. Here we attempt to untangle the processes that lead to the AoA differences between the models and between models and observations. AoA is influenced by both mean transport by the residual circulation and two-way mixing; we quantify the effects of these processes using data from the CCM inter-comparison projects CCMVal-2 (Chemistry–Climate Model Validation Activity 2) and CCMI-1 (Chemistry–Climate Model Initiative, phase 1). Transport along the residual circulation is measured by the residual circulation transit time (RCTT). We interpret the difference between AoA and RCTT as additional aging by mixing. Aging by mixing thus includes mixing on both the resolved and subgrid scale. We find that the spread in AoA between the models is primarily caused by differences in the effects of mixing and only to some extent by differences in residual circulation strength. These effects are quantified by the mixing efficiency, a measure of the relative increase in AoA by mixing. The mixing efficiency varies strongly between the models from 0.24 to 1.02. We show that the mixing efficiency is not only controlled by horizontal mixing, but by vertical mixing and vertical diffusion as well. Possible causes for the differences in the models' mixing efficiencies are discussed. Differences in subgrid-scale mixing (including differences in advection schemes and model resolutions) likely contribute to the differences in mixing efficiency. However, differences in the relative contribution of resolved versus parameterized wave forcing do not appear to be related to differences in mixing efficiency or AoA., Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 18 (9), ISSN:1680-7375, ISSN:1680-7367

Because tropospheric ozone is both a greenhouse gas and harmful air pollutant, it is important to understand how anthropogenic activities may influence its abundance and distribution through the 21st century. Here, we present model simulations performed with the chemistry–climate model SOCOL, in which spatially disaggregated chemistry and transport tracers have been implemented in order to better understand the distribution and projected changes in tropospheric ozone. We examine the influences of ozone precursor emissions (nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs)), climate change (including methane effects) and stratospheric ozone recovery on the tropospheric ozone budget, in a simulation following the climate scenario Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 6.0 (a medium-high, and reasonably realistic climate scenario). Changes in ozone precursor emissions have the largest effect, leading to a global-mean increase in tropospheric ozone which maximizes in the early 21st century at 23% compared to 1960. The increase is most pronounced at northern midlatitudes, due to regional emission patterns: between 1990 and 2060, northern midlatitude tropospheric ozone remains at constantly large abundances: 31% larger than in 1960. Over this 70-year period, attempts to reduce emissions in Europe and North America do not have an effect on zonally averaged northern midlatitude ozone because of increasing emissions from Asia, together with the long lifetime of ozone in the troposphere. A simulation with fixed anthropogenic ozone precursor emissions of NOx, CO and non-methane VOCs at 1960 conditions shows a 6% increase in global-mean tropospheric ozone by the end of the 21st century, with an 11 % increase at northern midlatitudes. This increase maximizes in the 2080s and is mostly caused by methane, which maximizes in the 2080s following RCP 6.0, and plays an important role in controlling ozone directly, and indirectly through its influence on other VOCs and CO. Enhanced flux of ozone from the stratosphere to the troposphere as well as climate change-induced enhancements in lightning NOx emissions also increase the tropospheric ozone burden, although their impacts are relatively small. Overall, the results show that under this climate scenario, ozone in the future is governed largely by changes in methane and NOx; methane induces an increase in tropospheric ozone that is approximately one-third of that caused by NOx. Climate impacts on ozone through changes in tropospheric temperature, humidity and lightning NOx remain secondary compared with emission strategies relating to anthropogenic emissions of NOx, such as fossil fuel burning. Therefore, emission policies globally have a critical role to play in determining tropospheric ozone evolution through the 21st century.

The annual variation of water vapour exhibits a distinct isolated maximum in the middle and upper stratosphere in the southern tropics and subtropics, peaking typically around 15° S in latitude and close to 3 hPa (~ 40.5 km) in altitude. This enhanced annual variation is primarily related to the Brewer–Dobson circulation and hence also visible in other trace gases. So far this feature has not gained much attention in the literature and the present work aims to add more prominence. Using Envisat/MIPAS (Environmental Satellite/Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding) observations and ECHAM/MESSy (European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts Hamburg/Modular Earth Submodel System) Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) simulations we provide a dedicated illustration and a full account for the reasons of this enhanced annual variation.

Mean age of air (AoA) is a widely used metric to describe the transport along the Brewer–Dobson circulation. We seek to untangle the effects of different processes on the simulation of AoA, using the chemistry–climate model EMAC (ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry) and the Chemical Lagrangian Model of the Stratosphere (CLaMS). Here, the effects of residual transport and two-way mixing on AoA are calculated. To do so, we calculate the residual circulation transit time (RCTT). The difference of AoA and RCTT is defined as aging by mixing. However, as diffusion is also included in this difference, we further use a method to directly calculate aging by mixing on resolved scales. Comparing these two methods of calculating aging by mixing allows for separating the effect of unresolved aging by mixing (which we term aging by diffusion in the following) in EMAC and CLaMS. We find that diffusion impacts AoA by making air older, but its contribution plays a minor role (order of 10 %) in all simulations. However, due to the different advection schemes of the two models, aging by diffusion has a larger effect on AoA and mixing efficiency in EMAC, compared to CLaMS. Regarding the trends in AoA, in CLaMS the AoA trend is negative throughout the stratosphere except in the Northern Hemisphere middle stratosphere, consistent with observations. This slight positive trend is neither reproduced in a free-running nor in a nudged simulation with EMAC – in both simulations the AoA trend is negative throughout the stratosphere. Trends in AoA are mainly driven by the contributions of RCTT and aging by mixing, whereas the contribution of aging by diffusion plays a minor role.

The future evolution of tropical ozone in a changing climate is investigated by analysing time slice simulations made with the chemistry–climate model EMAC. Between the present and the end of the 21st century a significant increase in ozone is found globally for the upper stratosphere and the extratropical lower stratosphere, while in the tropical lower stratosphere ozone decreases significantly by up to 30%. Previous studies have shown that this decrease is connected to changes in tropical upwelling. Here the dominant role of transport for the future ozone decrease is confirmed, but it is found that in addition changes in chemical ozone production and destruction do contribute to the ozone changes in the tropical lower stratosphere. Between 50 and 30 hPa the dynamically induced ozone decrease of up to 22% is amplified by 11–19% due to a reduced ozone production. This is counteracted by a decrease in the ozone loss causing an ozone increase by 15–28%. At 70 hPa the large ozone decrease due to transport (−52%) is reduced by an enhanced photochemical ozone production (+28%) but slightly increased (−5%) due to an enhanced ozone loss. It is found that the increase in the ozone production in the lowermost stratosphere is mainly due to a transport induced decrease in the overlying ozone column while at higher altitudes the ozone production decreases as a consequence of a chemically induced increase in the overlying ozone column. The ozone increase that is attributed to changes in ozone loss between 50 and 30 hPa is mainly caused by a slowing of the ClOx and NOx loss cycles. The enhanced ozone destruction below 70 hPa can be attributed to an increased efficiency of the HOx loss cycle. The role of ozone transport in determining the ozone trend in this region is found to depend on the changes in the net production as a reduced net production also reduces the amount of ozone that can be transported within an air parcel.

In addition to CO2, the climate impact of aviation is strongly influenced by non-CO2 emissions, such as nitrogen oxides, influencing ozone and methane, and water vapour, which can lead to the formation of persistent contrails in ice-supersaturated regions. Because these non-CO2 emission effects are characterised by a short lifetime, their climate impact largely depends on emission location and time; that is to say, emissions in certain locations (or times) can lead to a greater climate impact (even on the global average) than the same emission in other locations (or times). Avoiding these climate-sensitive regions might thus be beneficial to climate. Here, we describe a modelling chain for investigating this climate impact mitigation option. This modelling chain forms a multi-step modelling approach, starting with the simulation of the fate of emissions released at a certain location and time (time-region grid points). This is performed with the chemistry–climate model EMAC, extended via the two submodels AIRTRAC (V1.0) and CONTRAIL (V1.0), which describe the contribution of emissions to the composition of the atmosphere and to contrail formation, respectively. The impact of emissions from the large number of time-region grid points is efficiently calculated by applying a Lagrangian scheme. EMAC also includes the calculation of radiative impacts, which are, in a second step, the input to climate metric formulas describing the global climate impact of the emission at each time-region grid point. The result of the modelling chain comprises a four-dimensional data set in space and time, which we call climate cost functions and which describes the global climate impact of an emission at each grid point and each point in time. In a third step, these climate cost functions are used in an air traffic simulator (SAAM) coupled to an emission tool (AEM) to optimise aircraft trajectories for the North Atlantic region. Here, we describe the details of this new modelling approach and show some example results. A number of sensitivity analyses are performed to motivate the settings of individual parameters. A stepwise sanity check of the results of the modelling chain is undertaken to demonstrate the plausibility of the climate cost functions.

Chemistry-climate models (CCMs) project an earlier return of northern mid-latitude total column ozone to 1980 values compared to the southern mid-latitudes. The chemical and dynamical drivers of this hemispheric difference are investigated in this study. The hemispheric asymmetry in return dates is a robust result across different CCMs and is qualitatively independent of the method used to estimate return dates. However, the differences in dates of return to 1980 levels between the southern and northern mid-latitudes can vary between 0 and 30 yr across the range of CCM projections analyzed. Positive linear trends in ozone lead to an earlier return of ozone than expected from the return of Cly to 1980 levels. This forward shift is stronger in the Northern than in the Southern Hemisphere because (i) trends have a larger effect on return dates if the sensitivity of ozone to Cly is lower and (ii) the trends in the Northern Hemisphere are stronger than in the Southern Hemisphere. An attribution analysis performed with two CCMs shows that chemically-induced changes in ozone are the major driver of the earlier return of ozone to 1980 levels in northern mid-latitudes; therefore transport changes are of minor importance. This conclusion is supported by the fact that the spread in the simulated hemispheric difference in return dates across an ensemble of twelve models is only weakly related to the spread in the simulated hemispheric asymmetry of trends in the strength of the Brewer–Dobson circulation. The causes for chemically-induced asymmetric ozone trends relevant for the total column ozone return date differences are found to be (i) stronger increases in ozone production due to enhanced NOx concentrations in the Northern Hemisphere lowermost stratosphere and troposphere, (ii) stronger decreases in the destruction rates of ozone by the NOx cycle in the Northern Hemisphere lower stratosphere linked to effects of dynamics and temperature on NOx concentrations, and (iii) an increasing efficiency of heterogeneous ozone destruction by Cly in the Southern Hemisphere mid-latitudes as a~result of decreasing lower stratospheric temperatures.

In this study the stratospheric variability is analysed from decadal to seasonal timescales. Relevant processes for the decadal timescale are identified by means of power spectral analysis. The inspection of the ERA-Interim reanalysis data set shows considerably high variability at the 12 and 6 months period. But also in the extra tropical region at intra-annual to seasonal timescales clear peaks in the power spectrum arise. In addition to that, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) obviously contributes to the stratospheric variability at decadal timescales. Regarding the power spectrum of EMAC 2.52 model simulations, only a model configuration with a vertical resolution smaller than 1 km in the stratosphere is capable to capture the relevant features of the spectrum. In particular, the model with a coarser distribution of vertical levels cannot reproduce the QBO signal. The analysis of the corresponding wave spectra reveals that, if the vertical resolution is insufficient, primarily the Mixed-Rossby-Gravity waves cannot be adequately reproduced. Estimates made by linear wave theory show that for reanalysis data the Mixed-Rossby-Gravity waves with equivalent depths between 50 m to 250 m are relevant for the QBO. In order to resolve these relevant waves, model simulations need to consider a vertical resolution of at least 1 km.

The stratospheric climate and variability from simulations of sixteen chemistry-climate models is evaluated. On average the polar night jet is well reproduced though its variability is less well reproduced with a large spread between models. Polar temperature biases are less than 5 K except in the Southern Hemisphere (SH) lower stratosphere in spring. The accumulated area of low temperatures responsible for polar stratospheric cloud formation is accurately reproduced for the Antarctic but underestimated for the Arctic. The shape and position of the polar vortex is well simulated, as is the tropical upwelling in the lower stratosphere. There is a wide model spread in the frequency of major sudden stratospheric warnings (SSWs), late biases in the breakup of the SH vortex, and a weak annual cycle in the zonal wind in the tropical upper stratosphere. Quantitatively, "metrics" indicate a wide spread in model performance for most diagnostics with systematic biases in many, and poorer performance in the SH than in the Northern Hemisphere (NH). Correlations were found in the SH between errors in the final warming, polar temperatures, the leading mode of variability, and jet strength, and in the NH between errors in polar temperatures, frequency of major SSWs, and jet strength. Models with a stronger QBO have stronger tropical upwelling and a colder NH vortex. Both the qualitative and quantitative analysis indicate a number of common and long-standing model problems, particularly related to the simulation of the SH and stratospheric variability. Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

The South Asian High (SAH) is an important component of the summer monsoon system in Asia. In this study we investigate the location and drivers of the SAH at 100 hPa during the boreal summers of 1979 to 2014 on interannual, seasonal and synoptic time scales using six reanalyses. Special focus lies on the bimodality of the SAH, i.e. the two preferred modes of the SAH centre location: the Iranian Plateau to the west and the Tibetan Plateau to the east. We find that only the National Centers for Environmental Prediction – National Center of Atmospheric Research (NCEP/NCAR) reanalysis shows a clear bimodal structure of the SAH centre distribution with respect to daily and pentad (5-day mean) data. Furthermore, the distribution of the SAH centre location is highly variable from year-to-year. As in simple model studies, which connect the SAH to heating in the tropics, we find that the mean seasonal cycle of the SAH and its centre are dominated by the expansion of convection in the South Asian region (70° E–130° E × 15° N–30° N) on the southeastern border of the SAH. A composite analysis of precipitation and OLR data with respect to the location of the SAH centre reveals that a more westward (eastward) location of the SAH is related to stronger (weaker) convection and rainfall over India and stronger (weaker) precipitation over the West Pacific.

Transport pathways of air originating in the upper tropospheric Asian monsoon anticyclone are investigated based on three-dimensional trajectories. The Asian monsoon anticyclone emerges in response to persistent deep convection over India and southeast Asia in northern summer, and this convection is associated with rapid transport from the surface to the upper troposphere, and possibly into the stratosphere. Here, we investigate the fate of air that originates within the upper tropospheric anticyclone from the outflow of deep convection, using trajectories driven by ERA-interim reanalysis data. Calculations include isentropic estimates, plus fully three-dimensional results based on kinematic and diabatic transport calculations. Isentropic calculations show that air parcels are typically confined within the anticyclone for 10–20 days, and spread over the tropical belt within a month of their initialization. However, only few parcels (3 % at 360 K, 8 % at 380 K) reach the extratropical stratosphere by isentropic mixing. When considering vertical transport we find that 31 % (48%) of the trajectories reach the stratosphere within 60 days when using vertical velocities or diabatic heating rates to calculate vertical transport, respectively. In both cases, most parcels that reach the stratosphere are transported upward within the anticyclone and enter the stratosphere in the tropics, typically 10–20 days after their initialization at 360 K. This suggests that trace gases, including pollutants, that are transported into the stratosphere via the Asian monsoon system are in a position to enter the tropical pipe and thus be transported into the deep stratosphere. Sensitivity calculations with respect to the initial altitude of the trajectories showed that air needs to be transported to levels of 360 K or above by deep convection to likely (≧50 %) reach the stratosphere through transport by the large-scale circulation.

The assessment model for ultraviolet radiation and risk "AMOUR" is applied to output from two chemistry-climate models (CCMs). Results from the UK Chemistry and Aerosols CCM are used to quantify the worldwide skin cancer risk avoided by the Montreal Protocol and its amendments: by the year 2030, two million cases of skin cancer have been prevented yearly, which is 14% fewer skin cancer cases per year. In the "World Avoided," excess skin cancer incidence will continue to grow dramatically after 2030. Results from the CCM E39C-A are used to estimate skin cancer risk that had already been inevitably committed once ozone depletion was recognized: excess incidence will peak mid 21st century and then recover or even super-recover at the end of the century. When compared with a "No Depletion" scenario, with ozone undepleted and cloud characteristics as in the 1960s throughout, excess incidence (extra yearly cases skin cancer per million people) of the "Full Compliance with Montreal Protocol" scenario is in the ranges: New Zealand: 100-150, Congo: -10-0, Patagonia: 20-50, Western Europe: 30-40, China: 90-120, South-West USA: 80-110, Mediterranean: 90-100 and North-East Australia: 170-200. This is up to 4% of total local incidence in the Full Compliance scenario in the peak year.

The stratospheric circulation is an important element of climate as it determines the concentration of radiatively active species like water vapor and aerosol above the tropopause. Climate models predict that increasing greenhouse gas levels speed up the stratospheric circulation. However, these results have been challenged by observational estimates of the circulation strength, constituting an uncertainty in current climate simulations. Here, we quantify the effect of volcanic aerosol on the stratospheric circulation focusing on the Mount Pinatubo eruption and discussing further the minor extratropical volcanic eruptions after 2008. We show that the observed pattern of decadal circulation change over the past decades is substantially driven by volcanic aerosol injections. Thus, climate model simulations need to realistically take into account the effect of volcanic eruptions, including the minor eruptions after 2008, for a reliable reproduction of observed stratospheric circulation changes.

Monthly averaged surface erythemal solar irradiance (UV-Ery) for local noon from 1960 to 2100 has been derived using radiative transfer calculations and projections of ozone, temperature and cloud change from 14 chemistry climate models (CCM), as part of the CCMVal-2 activity of SPARC. Our calculations show the influence of ozone depletion and recovery on erythemal irradiance. In addition, we investigate UV-Ery changes caused by climate change due to increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. The latter include effects of both stratospheric ozone and cloud changes. The derived estimates provide a global picture of the likely changes in erythemal irradiance during the 21st century. Uncertainties arise from the assumed scenarios, different parameterizations – particularly of cloud effects on UV-Ery – and the spread in the CCM projections. The calculations suggest that relative to 1980, annually mean UV-Ery in the 2090s will be on average ~12 % lower at high latitudes in both hemispheres, ~3 % lower at mid latitudes, and marginally higher (~1 %) in the tropics. The largest reduction (~16 %) is projected for Antarctica in October. Cloud effects are responsible for 2–3 % of the reduction in UV-Ery at high latitudes, but they slightly moderate it at mid-latitudes (~1 %). The year of return of erythemal irradiance to values of certain milestones (1965 and 1980) depends largely on the return of column ozone to the corresponding levels and is associated with large uncertainties mainly due to the spread of the model projections. The inclusion of cloud effects in the calculations has only a small effect of the return years. At mid and high latitudes, changes in clouds and stratospheric ozone transport by global circulation changes due to greenhouse gases will sustain the erythemal irradiance at levels below those in 1965, despite the removal of ozone depleting substances. At northern high latitudes (60°–90°), the projected decreases in cloud transmittance towards the end of the 21st century will reduce the yearly average surface erythemal irradiance by ~5 % with respect to the 1960s.

Chemistry-climate models (CCMs) are commonly used to simulate the past and future development of Earth's ozone layer. The fully coupled chemistry schemes calculate the chemical production and destruction of ozone interactively and ozone is transported by the simulated atmospheric flow. Due to the complexity of the processes acting on ozone it is not straightforward to disentangle the influence of individual processes on the temporal development of ozone concentrations. A method is introduced here that quantifies the influence of chemistry and transport on ozone concentration changes and that is easily implemented in CCMs and chemistry-transport models (CTMs). In this method, ozone tendencies (i.e. the time rate of change of ozone) are partitioned into a contribution from ozone production and destruction (chemistry) and a contribution from transport of ozone (dynamics). The influence of transport on ozone in a specific region is further divided into export of ozone out of that region and import of ozone from elsewhere into that region. For this purpose, a diagnostic is used that disaggregates the ozone mixing ratio field into 9 separate fields according to in which of 9 predefined regions of the atmosphere the ozone originated. With this diagnostic the ozone mass fluxes between these regions are obtained. Furthermore, this method is used here to attribute long-term changes in ozone to chemistry and transport. The relative change in ozone from one period to another that is due to changes in production or destruction rates, or due to changes in import or export of ozone, are quantified. As such, the diagnostics introduced here can be used to attribute changes in ozone on monthly, interannual and long-term time-scales to the responsible mechanisms. Results from a CCM simulation are shown here as examples, with the main focus of the paper being on introducing the method., Geoscientific Model Development, 4 (2), ISSN:1991-9603, ISSN:1991-959X