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Climatology and Impact of Convection on the Tropical Tropopause LayerWater vapor plays an important role in controlling the radiative balance and the chemical composition of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (TTL). Mechanisms ranging from slow transport and dehydration under thermodynamic equilibrium conditions to fast transport in convection have been proposed as regulators of the amount of water vapor in this layer. However,.details of these mechanisms and their relative importance remain poorly understood, The recently completed Tropical Composition, Cloud, and Climate Coupling (TC4) campaign had the opportunity to sample the.TTL over the Eastern Tropical Pacific using ground-based, airborne, and spaceborne instruments. The main goal of this study is to provide the climatological context for this campaign of deep and overshooting convective activity using various satellite observations collected during the summertime. We use the Microwave Humidity Sensor (MRS) aboard the NOAA-18 satellite to investigate the horizontal extent.and the frequency of convection reaching and penetrating into the TTL. We use the Moderate Resolution I1l1aging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Aqua satellite to investigate the frequency distribution of daytime cirrus clouds. We use the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission(TRMM) and CloudSat to investigate the vertical structure and distribution of hydrometeors in the convective cells, In addition to cloud measurements; we investigate the impact that convection has on the concentration of radiatively important gases such as water vapor and ozone in the TTL by examining satellite measurement obtained from the Microwave Limb Sounder(MLS) aboard the Aura satellite.
Document ID
20080013189
Acquisition Source
Marshall Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Robertson, Franklin
(NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Pittman, Jasna
(National Space Science and Technology Center Huntsville, AL, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
December 10, 2007
Subject Category
Meteorology And Climatology
Meeting Information
Meeting: AGU Fall Meeting
Location: San Francisco, CA
Country: United States
Start Date: December 10, 2007
End Date: December 14, 2007
Sponsors: American Geophysical Union
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Work of the US Gov. Public Use Permitted.

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