Upper tropospheric ozone derived from the cloud slicing technique: Implications for large-scale convection

[1] This study evaluates the spatial distributions and seasonal cycles in upper tropospheric ozone (pressure range 200–500 hPa) from low to high latitudes (60°S to 60°N) derived from the satellite retrieval method called “cloud slicing.” The cloud slicing method determines ozone profile information in the troposphere by combining colocated measurements of cloud top pressure and above-cloud column ozone. Measurements of Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) above-cloud column ozone and Nimbus 7 Temperature Humidity Infrared Radiometer (THIR) cloud top pressure during 1979–1984 were merged to derive upper tropospheric ozone. Because of large footprint measurements from TOMS (∼100 km diameter on average), upper tropospheric ozone derived from cloud slicing coincides with large-scale convection events. These events are not necessarily representative of average atmospheric conditions in regions near and poleward of the tropospheric wind jets (around ±30° latitude), especially in winter and spring seasons when dynamical wave activity in the troposphere and lower stratosphere is most intense. The cloud slicing method with Nimbus 7 geometry in any case provides a unique opportunity to investigate the behavior of upper tropospheric ozone under condition of intense broad-scale convection. In the tropics the measured upper tropospheric ozone shows year-round enhancement in the Atlantic region and evidence of a possible semiannual variability. Outside the tropics, upper tropospheric ozone from cloud slicing shows greatest abundance in winter and spring seasons in both hemispheres with largest variance and largest amounts in the northern hemisphere. This seasonal cycle behavior under conditions of intense convection is different from general ozonesonde climatology which shows instead upper tropospheric ozone maximizing around early to middle summer months. The seasonal cycles and spatial characteristics in upper tropospheric ozone from cloud slicing are similar to lower stratospheric ozone. It is suggested that the large-scale convection events with cloud slicing coincide with an occurrence of stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE).