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

Observed versus simulated mountain waves over Scandinavia – improvement of vertical winds, energy and momentum fluxes by enhanced model resolution? By J. Wagener et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Forecasting northern polar stratospheric variability with competing statistical learning models. By I. Minokhin et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Quantification of the SF₆ Lifetime Based on Mesospheric Loss Measured in the Stratospheric Polar Vortex. By E.A. Ray et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

The Role of Sulfur Dioxide in Stratospheric Aerosol Formation Evaluated Using In-Situ Measurements in the Tropical Lower Stratosphere. By A.W. Rollins et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Weakening and shift of the Arctic stratospheric polar vortex: Internal variability or forced response? By W.J.M. Seviour in Geophysical Research Letters.

QBO/Solar Modulation of the Boreal Winter Madden-Julian Oscillation: A Prediction for the Coming Solar Minimum. By L.L. Hood in Geophysical Research Letters.

Wave modulation of the extratropical tropopause inversion layer. By R.P. Kedzierski et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Defining Sudden Stratospheric Warming in Climate Models: Accounting for Biases in Model Climatologies. By J. Kim et al. in the Journal of Climate.

Ice water content–extinction relationships and effective diameter for TTL cirrus derived from in situ measurements during ATTREX 2014. By T. Thornberry et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Summertime upper tropospheric nitrous oxide over the Mediterranean as a footprint of Asian emissions. By Y. Kangah et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

Role of vertical and horizontal mixing in the tape recorder signal near the tropical tropopause. By A.A. Glandville and T. Birner in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Linkages of subtropical stratospheric intraseasonal intrusions with Indian summer monsoon deficit rainfall. By S. Fadnavis and R. Chattopadhyay in the Journal of Climate.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Impacts of aerosol direct effects on tropospheric ozone through changes in atmospheric dynamics and photolysis rates. By J. Xing et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Comparison of ozone profiles and influences from the tertiary ozone maximum in the night-to-day ratio above Switzerland. By L. Moreira et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Sub-seasonal Variability in the Boundary Layer Sources for Transport into the Tropopause Layer in the Asian Monsoon Region. By B. Chen et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

A major part of SPARC’s activities in 2016 has been the implementation of the ‘whole atmosphere’ approach laid out in the 2015 SPARC strategy. The Annual Report offers a comprehensive insight into the status of current and emerging SPARC activities, contributions to WCRP Grand Challenges and SPARC’s links to other projects and programmes.

Find the SPARC Annual Report 2016 at

http://www.aparc-climate.org/publications/annual-reports/.

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

An improved parameterisation of ozone dry deposition to the ocean and its impact in a global climate–chemistry model. By A.K. Luhar et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Relative Roles of the MJO and Stratospheric Variability in North Atlantic and European Winter Climate. By C. Schwartz and C.I. Garfinkel in the Journal of Geophysical research: Atmospheres.

Upper tropospheric cloud systems derived from IR sounders: properties of cirrus anvils in the tropics. By S.E. Protopapadaki et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Sulfate geoengineering: a review of the factors controlling the needed injection of sulfur dioxide. By D. Visioni et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Global distribution of CO₂ in the upper troposphere and stratosphere. By M. Diallo et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Seasonal Prediction Skill of Northern Extratropical Surface Temperature Driven by the Stratosphere. By L. Jia in the Journal of Climate.

The potential value of early (1939–1967) upper-air data in atmospheric climate reanalysis. By H. Hersbach et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Accelerated increase in the Arctic tropospheric warming events surpassing stratospheric warming events during winter. By S.-Y.S. Wang et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Potential impact of carbonaceous aerosols on the Upper Troposphere and Lower Stratosphere (UTLS) during Asian summer monsoon in a global model simulation. By S. Fadnavis et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Winds and temperatures of the Arctic middle atmosphere during January measured by Doppler lidar. By J. Hildebrand et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

On the spatio-temporal representativeness of observations. By N. Schutgens et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Today, on World Meteorological Day, the World Meteorological Organisation highlights the enormous importance of clouds for weather, climate and water.

Much of the science SPARC is coordinating contributes to the theme on Clouds, Circulation and Climate Sensitivity, which was identified as a Grand Challenge by the World Climate Research Programme.

Limited understanding of clouds is the major source of uncertainty in climate sensitivity, but it also contributes substantially to persistent biases in modelled circulation systems. This Grand Challenge focusses on how clouds couple to circulations in the present climate; how clouds and circulations respond to global warming or other forcings; and how clouds feed back on global warming through their influence on Earth’s radiation budget.

Find more information on the Grand Challenge, on World Met Day.

In an article published in Advances in Atmospheric Sciences, Hans Volkert from the German DLR highlights how voluntary international committee work has a long tradition in the atmospheric sciences and how it has contributed to major advances on a global level.

Find the article here.

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

No time to chop funding for a pivotal climate programme. Nature editorial.

The SPARC water vapour assessment II: comparison of annual, semi-annual and quasi-biennial variations in stratospheric and lower mesospheric water vapour observed from satellites. By S. Lossow et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

The contribution of internal and model variabilities to the uncertainty in CMIP5 decadal climate predictions. By E. Strohbach and G. Bel in Climate Dynamics.

An Atlantic streamer in stratospheric ozone observations and SD-WACCM simulation data. By K. Hocke et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Variations of Northern Hemisphere Storm Track and Extratropical Cyclone Activity Associated with the Madden-Julian Oscillation. By Y. Gao et al. in the Journal of Climate.

HEPPA-II model–measurement intercomparison project: EPP indirect effects during the dynamically perturbed NH winter 2008–2009. By B. Funke et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Impacts of storm track variations on winter time extreme weather events over the continental US. By C.-G. Ma and E.K.M. Chang in the Journal of Climate.

Atmospheric response to Arctic and Antarctic sea ice: the importance of ocean-atmosphere coupling and the background state. By D.M. Smith et al. in the Journal of Climate.

The complex behavior of El Niño winter 2015-2016. By F.M. Palmeiro et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Skillful prediction of multi-decadal variations in volcanic forcing. By A. Tuel et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Tropospheric dry layers in the tropical western Pacific: comparisons of GPS radio occultation with multiple data sets. By T. Rieckh et al. in Atmospheric Measurement Techniques.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Regional temperature change potentials for short lived climate forcers from multiple models. By B. Aamaas et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Reconciling differences in stratospheric ozone composites. By W.T. Ball et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

The influence of deep convection on HCHO and H₂O₂ in the upper troposphere over Europe. By H. Bozem et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

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

Northern Hemisphere Stratospheric Pathway of different El Niño flavors in stratosphere-resolving CMIP5 models. By N. Calvo et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Natural Variations of Tropical Width and Recent Trends. By D.F. Mantsis et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Causes of interannual variability over the southern hemispheric tropospheric ozone maximum. By J. Liu et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Modulating Effects of Planetary Wave 3 on a Stratospheric Sudden Warming Event in 2005. By C. Shi et al. in the Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Satellite Measurements of Stratospheric GravityWaves over the Andes/Drake Passage Region Using a 3D S-Transform Technique. By C.J. Wright et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Brominated VSLS and their influence on ozone under a changing climate. By S. Falk et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

A quantitative analysis of the reactions involved in stratospheric polar ozone depletion. By I. Wohltmann et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Impact of uncertainties in inorganic chemical rate constants on tropospheric composition and ozone radiative forcing. By B. Newsome and M. Evans in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

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

Role of Internal Atmospheric Variability in the 2015 Extreme Winter Climate Over the North America Continent. By J. Xie and M. Zhang in Geophysical Research Letters.

Seasonal variation of gravity wave parameters using different filter methods with daylight lidar measurements at mid-latitudes. By K. Baumgartner et al. in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres.

A decadal satellite record of gravity wave activity in the lower stratosphere to study polar stratospheric cloud formation. By L. Hoffmann et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Small-scale orographic gravity wave drag in stable boundary layers and its impact on synoptic systems and near surface meteorology. By A. Tsiringakis et al. in the Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

30-year lidar observations of the stratospheric aerosol layer state over Tomsk (Western Siberia, Russia). By V.V. Zuev et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Revisiting Southern Hemisphere Polar Stratospheric Temperature Trends in WACCM: The Role of Dynamical Forcing. By N. Calvo et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Might stratospheric variability lead to improved predictability of ENSO events? By C.I. Garfinkel in Environmental Research Letters.

The effects of the Indo-Pacific warm pool on the stratosphere. By X. Zhou et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Chemical processes related to net ozone tendencies in the free troposphere. By H. Bozem et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Uncertainty information in climate data records from Earth observation. By C.J. Merchant et al. in Earth System Science Data Discussions.

CCl₄ distribution derived from MIPAS ESA V7 data: validation, trend and lifetime estimation. By M. Valeri in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

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

Limits on the ability of global Eulerian models to resolve intercontinental transport of chemical plumes. By S.D. Eastham and D.J. Jacobs in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

Respective roles of direct GHG radiative forcing and induced Arctic sea ice loss on the Northern Hemisphere atmospheric circulation. By T. Oudar et al. in Climate Dynamics.

Global carbonyl sulfide (OCS) measured by MIPAS/Envisat during 2002–2012. By N. Glatthor et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

The influence of the Calbuco eruption on the 2015 Antarctic ozone hole in a fully coupled chemistry-climate model. By D.J. Ivy et al. in Geophysical Research Letters.

Impact of mountains on tropical circulation in two Earth System Models. By Z. Naiman et al. in the Journal of Climate.

Global emissions of fluorinated greenhouse gases 2005–2050 with abatement potentials and costs. By P. Purohit and L. Höglund-Isaksson in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

An assessment of the climatological representativeness of IAGOS-CARIBIC trace gas measurements using EMAC model simulations. By J. Eckstein et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics.

The influence of dynamical variability on the observed Brewer–Dobson Circulation trend. By S.C. Hardiman in Geophysical Research Letters.

Discussion papers – open for comment

Stratospheric Aerosol Climatology over Ethiopia and Retrieval of its Size Distribution. By M.G. Homa et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.

Quantifying pollution transport from the Asian monsoon anticyclone into the lower stratosphere. By F. Ploeger et al. in Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions.