Stratospheric variability of temperature and ozone as inferred from the second CRISTA mission: Zonal means and local structures : CRISTA-2 Mission

[1] During the second Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere (CRISTA) orbital mission from 8 to 16 August 1997, temperature, potential temperature, and ozone data have been derived with unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution on a global scale. The variability of these quantities is analyzed by statistical means. This fluctuation analysis determines the variability of the quantity under investigation within well-defined regions with horizontal dimensions of about 20 by 20 degrees. Spatial variability is expressed in terms of standard deviations of differences of observed quantities with about 250, 500, 750, or 1000 km horizontal separation. The variances of temperature and therefore potential temperature for pressure levels between about 100 and 0.45 hPa and ozone between about 50 and 0.45 hPa depend greatly on geographical location and altitude. Practically all latitudes and altitudes exhibit strong zonal asymmetries. In contrast to the temperature variability distribution, that of potential temperature appears to focus more strongly on adiabatic processes, i.e., mainly on gravity and planetary wave activity depending upon geographical location and altitude. From the variances in a given region an autocorrelation function depending on horizontal scale can be derived. This correlation function suggests frequent wavelike structures with horizontal scales around 1000 km.