Overview on Role of the Troposphere

The troposphere is the lower boundary for the stratosphere. As such, it provides a radiative boundary that is a large source of IR flux into for the stratosphere and scattered UV-Vis energy. Planetary-scale waves that are forced in the troposphere can propagate into the stratosphere, providing a large additional source of energy for the stratosphere. This wave energy is the principal energy source for the Brewer-Dobson circulation. Medium-scale wave can also propagate into the lower stratosphere, but have a smaller effect. The final source of energy for the stratosphere comes from smaller scale disturbances such as gravity waves, mixed Rossby-gravity modes, and Kelvin waves. These smaller scale waves provide an important source of energy for the stratosphere. In this presentation we will cover these tropospheric sources of energy that effect the stratosphere. In particular, we will focus attention on planetary scale waves and their forcings.