Antarctic Stratospheric Warmings During 1963 Revealed by 15-μ TIROS VII Data

Abstract

TIROS VII 15-? radiation data were used to study Southern Hemisphere stratospheric warmings during the winter of 1963 over regions which had little conventional data. Three significant warmings could be mapped despite the latitudinal limit of 60S. The first, from 20 July to 13 August, and the second from 26 August to 16 September each reached a maximum in the Australian sector with temperature increases of 10C and 24C near Campbell Island. The warmings moved eastward from Australia and the South Indian Ocean. The third, or final warming, occurred in the western South Pacific from 16 October to 10 November with a temperature increase of 21C. This warming travelled southeastward toward the South Atlantic Ocean. This study demonstrates the validity and usefulness of single-day satellite data. It is strongly suggested that future observations of the same narrow CO2 band be carefully processed to filter out only the random time fluctuations in order that potentially high resolution in time and space of this system can be realized. The 15-? radiation can indeed provide mid-stratospheric temperature data over the major portion of the globe which now has no upper-air observational network at all. A truly polar orbit such as that of Nimbus, would further provide such data over the central polar regions where this atmospheric layer experiences dramatic changes and is of most interest.