Satellite-derived estimations of the clear-air turbulence in the upper troposphere

Abstract

Abstract The paper presents the results of a study of turbulence zones in the upper troposphere of the Northern Hemisphere based on measurements from European geostationary meteorological satellites in 2007 - 2018. The essence of the method for determining the zones of turbulence is the use of inhomogeneity’s of concentration of water vapor as tracers and the use of correlation-extremal algorithms. Turbulence zones with a horizontal mesoscale turbulent diffusion coefficient Ked ≥ 104 m2 / s can occupy up to 50% of the Northern Hemisphere area visible from satellites. It is shown that in analyzed time interval there is a significant (by 60-120%) increase in areas occupied by relatively weak and moderate turbulence and a slight decrease (by 6-33%) in areas with strong and very strong turbulence. The temporal variability of these zones and their relationship with the characteristics of jet streams and some climatic parameters are analyzed. A statistical model of the temporal variability of the turbulence zone areas has been built. It is shown that the multiple linear regression model with jet stream characteristics as predictors describes up to 68% of variability of zones of strong turbulence. The use of climatic parameters as predictors makes it possible to describe up to 74% of the temporal variability of strong turbulence zones.