Dynamics and Chemistry of the Summer Stratosphere Model Output

Convection allowing model simulations are carried out using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem). These will aid in the evaluation of aircraft observations and evaluate the ability of numerical models to represent overshooting convection and transport. Photodissociation frequencies (J values) will also be computed using a radiative transfer model of the UV and Visible (UV/Vis) spectral regions.

Data collection for this product is ongoing and currently only features the first deployment. Each summer the North American Monsoon Anticyclone (NAMA) dominates the circulation of the North-Western Hemisphere and acts to partially confine and isolate air from the surrounding atmosphere. Strong convective storms in the NAMA regularly reach altitudes deep into the lower stratosphere, with some ascending above 20 km.

These storms carry water and pollutants from the troposphere into the otherwise very dry stratosphere, where they can have a significant impact on radiative and chemical processes, potentially including destruction of stratospheric ozone. The DCOTSS field campaign is a NASA Earth Venture Suborbital research project aimed at investigating these thunderstorms. DCOTSS utilizes NASA’s ER-2 aircraft and conducted two ~8-week science deployments based out of Salina, KS spanning early to late summer.