Inter-comparison of stratospheric mean-meridional circulation and eddy mixing among six reanalysis datasets

Abstract

Abstract. The stratospheric mean-meridional circulation (MMC) and eddy mixing are compared among six meteorological reanalysis datasets: NCEP-NCAR, NCEP-CFSR, ERA-40, ERA-Interim, JRA-25, and JRA-55 for the period 1979–2012. The reanalysis datasets produced using advanced systems (i.e., NCEP-CFSR, ERA-Interim, and JRA-55) generally reveal a weaker MMC and stronger eddy mixing in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) compared with those produced using older systems (i.e., NCEP/NCAR, ERA-40, and JRA-25). In the NH lower stratosphere, the stronger eddy mixing is attributed to stronger planetary-scale mixing in the new datasets, whereas small-scale mixing is weaker in the new datasets. Conventional data assimilation techniques introduce analysis increments without maintaining physical balance, which may have caused an overly strong MMC and spurious small-scale eddies in the old datasets. At the NH mid-latitudes, only ERA-Interim reveals a weakening MMC trend in the deep branch of the Brewer–Dobson Circulation (BDC). The relative importance of the eddy mixing compared with the mean transport in the subtropical lower stratosphere is considered to be important in controlling mean Age-of-Air (AoA) variations above, which showed increasing trends in ERA-Interim and JRA-55; this together with the weakened MMC in the deep branch may imply an increasing AoA trend in the NH middle stratosphere in ERA-Interim. Overall, discrepancies between the different variables and trends therein as derived from the different reanalyses are still relatively large, suggesting that more investments into these products are needed in order to obtain a consolidated picture of observed changes in the BDC and the mechanisms that drive them.