Seminar

Abstract

The Brewer-Dobson circulation (BDC) describes the mean equator-to-pole transport in the stratosphere, coupled with upward motion in the tropics and downward motion at high latitudes. These up and down motions are accompanied by adiabatic cooling and heating respectively, meaning that changes in the strength of the BDC leave a fingerprint in stratospheric temperatures: colder (warmer) tropics and warmer (colder) poles when the BDC is stronger (weaker) than average. I will describe this pattern in both lower stratospheric temperatures (as has been demonstrated by previous studies), as well as in middle and upper stratospheric temperatures. I will then show how the tropical/high latitude temperature signal of the BDC might be exploited to look for trends in the strength of the BDC, as well as how the signal of the BDC might be used to improve the statistical certainty of stratospheric temperature trends.