The SPARC Office is in the transition of moving from ETH Zurich to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen. Apply for the position of Project Scientist in the new SPARC Office before 15 September.

Find vacancy.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Impact of Volcanic Aerosols on Stratospheric Ozone Recovery. By V. Naik et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The characteristics of the lower stratospheric gravity wave field above Halley (75°S, 26°W), Antarctica, from radiosonde observations. By T. Moffat-Griffin and S.-R. Colwell in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Mirrored Changes in Antarctic Ozone and Stratospheric Temperature in the late 20th versus early 21st Centuries. By S. Solomon et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Gravity Wave Spectra in the Lower Stratosphere Diagnosed from Project Loon Balloon Trajectories. By M.R. Schoeberl et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Dynamical Heating of the Arctic Atmosphere during the Springtime Transition. By X. Long and W.A. Robinson in the Journal of Climate.

Contributions of climate feedbacks to changes in atmospheric circulation. By P. Ceppi and T.G. Shepherd in the Journal of Climate.

Connecting Tropical Climate Change with Southern Ocean Heat Uptake. By Y.-T- Hwang et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

The relationship between northern hemisphere winter blocking and tropical modes of variability. By G. Gollan and R.J. Greatbatch in the Journal of Climate.

Discussion papers – open for comment

The Network for the Detection of Atmospheric Composition Change (NDACC): History, status and perspectives. By M. de Mazière et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

VESPA-22: a ground-based microwave spectrometer for long-term measurements of Polar stratospheric water vapor. By G. Mevi et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

Drift corrected Odin-OSIRIS ozone product: algorithm and updated stratospheric ozone trends. By A.E. Bourassa et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

WCRP and the World Weather Research Programme are seeking nominations for the International Prize for Model Development, awarded annually for an outstanding contribution to weather and climate model development by an early- to mid-career researcher. Find information on IPMD 2017.

In addition, WCRP together with the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS) are seeking nominations for the International Data Prize 2017. The prize is awarded annually to an early- to mid-career researcher for his or her outstanding contribution to the Earth system science community. Find information on IDP 2017.

Nominations for both prizes close on 1 October 2017.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Observational evidence of the downstream impact on tropical rainfall from stratospheric Kelvin waves. By L. Zhang et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Assessment of NOAA NUCAPS Upper Air Temperature Profiles Using COSMIC GPS Radio Occultation and ARM Radiosondes. By M.L. Feltz et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Assessment of COSMIC radio occultation and AIRS hyperspectral IR sounder temperature products in the stratosphere using observed radiances. By M.L. Feltz et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Dynamics and Predictability of Downward Propagating Stratospheric Planetary Waves Observed in March 2007. By H. Mukougawa et al. in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Sensitivity of the radiative forcing by stratospheric sulfur geoengineering to the amount and strategy of the SO₂ injection studied with the LMDZ-S3A model. By C. Kleinschmitt et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Accuracy and precision of lower stratospheric polar reanalysis temperatures evaluated from A-train CALIOP and MLS, COSMIC GPS RO, and the equilibrium thermodynamics of supercooled ternary solutions and ice clouds. By A. Lambert and M.L. Santee in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Intercomparison of AIRS and HIRDLS stratospheric gravity wave observations. By C.I. Meyer et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Early prediction of extreme stratospheric polar vortex states based on causal precursors. By M. Kretschmer et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

The Response of the Southern Hemisphere Middle Atmosphere to the Madden-Julian oscillation during Austral Winter Using the Specified-Dynamics Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model. By C. Yang et al. in the Journal of Climate.

MIPAS IMK/IAA carbon tetrachloride (CCl₄) retrieval and first comparison with other instruments. By E. Eckert et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

More frequent Sudden Stratospheric Warming events due to enhanced MJO forcing expected in a warmer climate. By W. Kang and E. Tziperman in the Journal of Climate.

The Large Scale Dynamical Response of Clouds to Aerosol Forcing. By B. Soden and E.-S. Chung in the Journal of Climate.

Using the artificial tracer e90 to examine present and future UTLS tracer transport in WACCM. By M. Abalos et al. in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

An assessment of ozone mini-hole representation in reanalyses over the Northern Hemisphere. By L.F. Millan and G.L. Manney in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

The Impact of Non-uniform Sampling on Stratospheric Ozone Trends Derived from Occultation Instruments. By R.P. Damadeo et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Deadline 14 August 2017

Future Earth is inviting contributions to defining its research priorities for "Health, Climate, and Environment". Review the document put together by the Future Earth Knowledge Action Network on Health and provide feedback through an online survey. Find more information at: http://futureearth.org/news/open-consultation-research-priorities-health-climate-and-environment

Each year since 1962, the American Geophysical Union (AGU) has elected as Fellows members whose visionary leadership and scientific excellence have fundamentally advanced research in their respective fields. This year, 61 members will join the 2017 class of Fellows. Joan Alexander, a previous SPARC Co-chair, has been recognised for her contributions by this prestigious award. Find more details and the full list of fellows at: https://eos.org/agu-news/2017-class-of-agu-fellows-announced

Deadline 30 September 2017

SPARC leadership is composed of experts from around the world who dedicate their time to SPARC’s international activities. These include the SPARC Scientific Steering Group (SSG), who serve to guide SPARC’s scientific focus. SPARC is now accepting nominations (or self-nominations) for SSG membership to serve from January 2019 – December 2021 (initial three-year term can be extended by two additional years). If you are interested please complete the online form available here. The deadline for nominations is 30 September 2017.

A selection of new science articles from the past week of interest to the SPARC community (a SPARC Office choice).

Investigation on the abnormal quasi-two day wave activities during sudden stratospheric warming period of January 2006. By S.-Y. Gu et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Understanding the timescales of the tropospheric circulation response to abrupt CO2 forcing in the Southern Hemisphere: Seasonality and the role of the stratosphere. By K.M. Grise and L.M Polvani in the Journal of Climate.

Remarkable separability of circulation response to Arctic sea ice loss and greenhouse gas forcing. By K.E. McCusker et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Classifying the tropospheric precursor patterns of sudden stratospheric warmings. By M. Bao et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Retrieval of volcanic SO₂ from HIRS/2 using optimal estimation. By G.M. Miles et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Global atmospheric chemistry – which air matters. By M.J. Prather et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

OMI-measured increasing SO₂ emissions due to energy industry expansion and relocation in northwestern China. By Z. Ling et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Retrieving Vertical Ozone Profiles from Measurements of Global Spectral Irradiance. By G. Bernhard et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Discussions.

Radiative effects of ozone waves on the Northern Hemisphere polar vortex and its modulation by the QBO. By V. Silverman et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Intraseasonal to interannual variability of Kelvin wave momentum fluxes as derived from high-resolution radiosonde data. By J.P. Sjoberg et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

The July 2017 edition of the newsletter is now available online:
http://www.aparc-climate.org/publications/newsletter/SPARC_newsletter_No49/

Download or browse the whole issue or pick from individual science articles and workshop reports.