The 23rd Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology

11D.10
WHAT CONTROL THE RESPONSES OF WATER VAPOR AND THIN CIRRUS IN THE UPPER TROPOSPHERE AND LOWER STRATOSPHERE TO AN ENHANCED TROPICAL HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE?

Rong Fu, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ; and M. X. Chen and W. G. Read

For an enhanced tropical hydrological cycle, for example, during an El Niņo year, the associated changes in the radiation budget at the top of the atmosphere is influenced by the responses of water vapor and thin cirrus in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere to the changes in hydrological cycle . We have analyzed the water vapor and cirrus clouds profiles provided by UARS MLS, HALOE and CLAES and SAGE II instruments. The results suggest that the drying of the subtropical upper troposphere shown by TOVS UTH and decreases of cirrus are confined below 13 km. Above 13 km and up to 2 km above the tropopause, moistening dominates in the entire tropical region (30°S-30°N) and cirrus clouds increase. The processes contributing to the above distributions of water vapor and cirrus clouds anomalies and the implied relatioship between changes in water vapor and thin cirrus will be discussed in the presentation.


The 23rd Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology