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Polar Vortex Outbreak Air Transport: Observation using Satellite IR Sounder Derived Products and Comparison with Model
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  • Xiaozhen Xiong,
  • Xu Liu,
  • Wan Wu,
  • Qiguang Yang,
  • Daniel Zhou
Xiaozhen Xiong
NASA Langley Research Center

Corresponding Author:xiaozhen.xiong@nasa.gov

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Xu Liu
NASA Langley Research Center
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Wan Wu
NASA Langley Research Center
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Qiguang Yang
SSAI Inc, NASA Langley Research Center
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Daniel Zhou
NASA Langley Research Center
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Abstract

The Single Field of View (SFOV) Sounder Atmospheric Products (SiFSAP) derived from Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) on SNPP have a spatial resolution ( ~15 km) better than most global weather and climate models and current operational sounding products. Most recent significant improvement in its quality provides us an opportunity to use SiFSAP sounding data, which will soon be available at NASA DAAC for weather studies and model evaluation. This presentation used SiFSAP together with two model data, i.e. NASA’s Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications Version-2 (MERRA-2) and the fifth-generation ECMWF reanalysis (ERA5) data, to study the dynamic transport associated with Cold Air Outbreak (CAO) on Jan 29, 2019, and its relationship with polar vortex. In this case study, the changes of temperature (T), water vapor, ozone (O3), wind fields, geopotential height (GPH) and potential velocity (PV), as well as O3 from OMPS on SNPP were analyzed and compared. We found the cold air transport near the surface can be linked with the folding of tropopause, which brought O3-riched and dry stratospheric air to lower altitudes in the atmosphere. The transport path of cold air from polar to lower latitude can be well mapped from the enhanced O3, low relative humidity (RH), wind fields and PV contours. The change of surface T has a high correlation (R>0.8) with O3. Some difference between models and satellite observations of T and RH from the latitude-pressure and longitude-pressure cross-section is found. These results demonstrate the 3-D structures of T, RH and O3 distribution as derived from CrIS measurements provide some insights of the cold air transport, and have a potential to be used to monitor the transport of polar cold air following the outbreak of polar vortex.