Observed Temperature Changes in the Troposphere and Stratosphere from 1979 to 2018

• DOI: 10.1175/jcli-d-19-0998.1
• Publication Date: 2020-08-17T19:20:21Z
• Authors: A. K. Steiner; F. Ladstädter; W. J. Randel; A. C. Maycock; Q. Fu; C. Claud; H. Gleisner; L. Haimberger; S.-P. Ho; P. Keckhut; T. Leblanc; C. Mears; L. M. Polvani; B. D. Santer; T. Schmidt; V. Sofieva; R. Wing; C.-Z. Zou
• Keywords: Tropopause; Lapse rate; Radio occultation; Atmospheric temperature

Abstract Temperature observations of the upper-air atmosphere are now available for more than 40 years from both ground- and satellite-based observing systems. Recent have seen substantial improvements in reducing long-standing discrepancies among datasets through major reprocessing efforts. The advent radio occultation (RO) 2001 has led to further vertically resolved temperature measurements, enabling a detailed analysis upper-troposphere/lower-stratosphere trends. This paper presents current state atmospheric trends latest observational records. We analyze merged operational satellite radiosondes, lidars, RO, spanning vertical range lower troposphere upper stratosphere. focus is on assessing climate identifying degree consistency results show robust cooling stratosphere about 1–3 K, warming 0.6–0.8 K over last four decades (1979–2018). Consistent found between layer-average temperatures radiosonde overall latitude–altitude trend patterns consistent RO Significant evident measurements after 2001, with 0.25–0.35 per decade. Amplified tropical upper-troposphere compared surface 2002–18 based records, approximate agreement moist adiabatic lapse rate theory. will help improve understanding changes their drivers.