Comparison of Stratospheric Trends in Temperature, Ozone and Water Vapor in North Temperate Latitudes

Abstract

Based on smoothed year-average data for the period 1964?76, there has been considerable similarity among the time trends in equatorial tropopause temperature, water vapor amount in the low stratosphere at Washington, DC, and total ozone in north temperate latitudes, the latter two trends in particularly close agreement with a six-month lag (ozone variation following water vapor variation). The trends in these three parameters have been generally out of phase with the temperature trend in the low stratosphere of north temperate latitudes. The phase lag between radiosonde-derived and rocketsonde-derived temperature variations over the United States suggests that an out-of-phase relation may exist between temperature trends and ozone trends (the latter obtained from Umkehr measurements) in the upper midlatitude stratosphere.