It has been shown that the total ozone field can be separated by meteorological regimes, the boundaries of which are the upper-level subtropical and polar fronts. They define the regimes as: (1) the polar regime - the region between the polar and polar vortex, (2) the midlatitude regime - the region between the subtropical and polar fronts, and (3) the subtropical regime - the region between the equator and the subtropical front. When the frontal boundaries obtained from the total ozone field are used to separate ozone and temperature profiles, the profiles show a clearly distinct shape for each regime.

This paper discusses the temporal and spatial behavior of the thermal tropopause heights when the meteorological regimes are used to classify them. Global daily rawinsondes are used to calculate the tropopause height, whereas satellite-derived total ozone is used to delineate the boundaries of the regimes. Preliminary analysis shows a clear seasonal dependence of the tropopause height within every regime, although with smaller amplitude for the tropical regime. In addition, the atmospheric noise is considerably reduced within each regime as compared to the noise obtained for all data without any discrimination.