Meteorology of the Stratosphere

Younis Al-Fenadi Director of Research and Studies Directorate Libyan National Meteorological Centre (LNMC) Tripoli – Libya [email protected]

The stratosphere is one of the five Earth’s atmosphere layers. It has received little attention till the early eighties when the chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), along with bromine compounds, and supersonic jet airliners have been uncertainly identified as being responsible for most of the anthropogenic destruction of stratospheric ozone (O 3) depletion issue occurred as a global environmental threat.

The stratosphere is the second layer, above the troposphere and below the mesosphere as one moves upward from the surface of the Earth. Its altitude varies with latitude and climatic seasons with an approximately width of 35 km in average, ranges between its bottom around 16 km (10 miles) above Earth's surface near the equator, around 10 km (6 miles) at mid-latitudes, and around 8 km (5 miles) near the poles. The stratosphere is slightly lower in winter at mid- and high-latitudes, and slightly higher in summer. The boundary between the stratosphere and the troposphere is called the tropopause (dT/dz = 0), while the boundary between the stratosphere and the mesosphere above is called the stratopause. The top of the stratosphere occurs at 50 km (31 miles) altitude.

Recently, meteorology of the stratosphere is given a great attention and highlighted in many research work considering its importance for many reasons such as (1) the IPCC scenarios of precipitation and temperature patterns changes in many regions of the world and its impact on the global weather and climate, (2) the climate change studies on the role of stratosphere circulations in determining the distribution variability of ozone. And the effect of human pollutions on the ozone layer, (3) the fact that stratospheric circulation could play a significant role in future climate change in the extratropics and (4) the stratosphere and troposphere dynamical interactions.

This presentation will show some of the stratosphere characteristics and trace its development, its role in atmospheric thermodynamics and impact on climate change. Furthermore, it will recommend some actions to build a study group for further research on the stratosphere.