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189:(ELR) of temperature, from a positive rate (of decrease) in the troposphere to a negative rate in the stratosphere. The tropopause is defined as the lowest level at which the lapse rate decreases to 2°C/km or less, provided that the average lapse-rate, between that level and all other higher levels within 2.0 km does not exceed 2°C/km. The tropopause is a
289:. A measurement of the tropospheric and the stratospheric lapse rates helps identify the location of the tropopause, since temperature increases with height in the stratosphere, and hence the lapse rate becomes negative. The tropopause location coincides with the lowest point at which the lapse rate is less than a prescribed threshold.
329:, the threshold value should be considered as positive north of the Equator and negative south of it. Theoretically, to define a global tropopause in this way, the two surfaces arising from the positive and negative thresholds need to be matched near the equator using another type of surface such as a constant
292:
Since the tropopause responds to the average temperature of the entire layer that lies underneath it, it is at its maximum levels over the
Equator, and reaches minimum heights over the poles. On account of this, the coolest layer in the atmosphere lies at about 17 km over the equator. Due to the
176:
Rising from the planetary surface of the Earth, the tropopause is the atmospheric level where the air ceases to become cool with increased altitude and becomes dry, devoid of water vapor. The tropopause is the boundary that demarcates the
365:. Because gases primarily enter the stratosphere by passing through the tropopause in the tropics where the tropopause is coldest, water vapor is condensed out of the air that is entering the stratosphere. This ″tropical tropopause layer
360:
proposed that tropospheric air passes through the tropopause into the stratosphere near the equator, then travels through the stratosphere to temperate and polar regions, where it sinks into the troposphere. This is now known as
319:, given that this quantity attains quite different values for the troposphere and the stratosphere. Instead of using the vertical temperature gradient as the defining variable, the dynamic tropopause surface is expressed in
268:
phenomena occur. The troposphere contains the boundary layer, and ranges in height from an average of 9 km (5.6 mi; 30,000 ft) at the poles, to 17 km (11 mi; 56,000 ft) at the
679:
Tuck, A. F.; Browell, E. V.; Danielsen, E. F.; Holton, J. R.; Hoskins, B. J.; Johnson, D. R.; Kley, D.; Krueger, A. J.; Megie, G.; Newell, R. E.; Vaughan, G. (1985). "Strat-trop exchange".
296:
Given that the lapse rate is not a conservative quantity when the tropopause is considered for stratosphere-troposphere exchanges studies, there exists an alternative definition named
333:
surface. Nevertheless, the dynamic tropopause is useless at equatorial latitudes because the isentropes are almost vertical. For the extratropical tropopause in the
881:
Hasebe, F.; Inai, Y.; Shiotani, M.; Fujiwara, M.; Vömel, H.; Nishi, N.; Ogino, S.-Y.; Shibata, T.; Iwasaki, S.; Komala, N.; Peter, T.; Oltmans, S. J. (Apr 2013).
639:
325:(PVU, 1 PVU = 10 K m kg s). Given that the absolute vorticity is positive in the Northern Hemisphere and negative in the
846:
Brewer, A. W. (Oct 1949). "Evidence for a world circulation provided by the measurements of helium and water vapor distribution in the stratosphere".
412:
increases in luminosity, the temperature of the Earth will rise enough that the cold trap will no longer be effective, and so the Earth will dry out.
229:
1289:
883:"Cold trap dehydration in the Tropical Tropopause Layer characterised by SOWER chilled-mirror hygrometer network data in the Tropical Pacific"
446:
of their flights; in this region, the clouds and significant weather perturbations characteristic of the troposphere are usually absent.
149:, and is approximately 17 kilometres (11 mi) above the equatorial regions, and approximately 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) above the
1004:
Lewis, B. R.; Vardavas, I. M.; Carver, J. H. (June 1983). "The aeronomic dissociation of water vapor by solar H Lyman α radiation".
400:
the atmosphere. Thus, in some sense, the tropical tropopause layer cold trap is what prevents Earth from losing its water to space.
340:
It is also possible to define the tropopause in terms of chemical composition. For example, the lower stratosphere has much higher
369:″ theory has become widely accepted. This cold trap limits stratospheric water vapor to 3 to 4 parts per million. Researchers at
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Water vapor that is able to make it through the cold trap eventually rises to the top of the stratosphere, where it undergoes
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variation in starting height, the tropopause extremes are referred to as the equatorial tropopause and the polar tropopause.
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89:
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the WMO established a value of 1.6 PVU, but greater values ranging between 2 and 3.5 PVU have been traditionally used.
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The tropopause extends to high altitudes in the tropical latitudes and extends to low altitudes in the polar latitudes.
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surface, in which temperature as a function of height varies continuously through the atmosphere, while the
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Most commercial aircraft are flown in the lower stratosphere, just above the tropopause, during the
586:
321:
261:
562:; Sassi, F. (2002). "Distribution and influence of convection in the tropical tropopause region".
637:; Robertson, A. W. (1985). "On the use and significance of isentropic potential vorticity maps".
482:(2nd ed.). Geneva: Secretariat of the World Meteorological Organization. 1992. p. 636.
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145:. The tropopause is a thermodynamic gradient-stratification layer that marks the end of the
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Nicolet, Marcel (July 1984). "On the photodissociation of water vapour in the mesosphere".
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Andrews, D. G.; Holton, J. R.; Leovy, C. B. (1987). R., Dmowska; Holton, J. R. (eds.).
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Caldeira, K; Kasting, J F (December 1992). "The life span of the biosphere revisited".
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Atmospheric Ozone 1985 – WMO Global Ozone
Research and Monitoring Project Report No. 16
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the lower stratosphere and undergo a brief (hour-order or less) low-frequency vertical
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on air circulation patterns will weaken the tropical tropopause layer cold trap.
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The troposphere is the lowest layer of the Earth's atmosphere; it starts at the
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above, and is part of the atmosphere where there occurs an abrupt change in the
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capable of affecting both atmospheric and oceanic currents in the region.
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for this layer is 6.5 °C per kilometer, on average, according to the
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L. L. Pan; W. J. Randel; B. L. Gary; M. J. Mahoney; E. J. Hintsa (2004).
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The boundary of the atmosphere between the troposphere and stratosphere
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10.1175/1520-0450(1974)013<0917:cthvos>2.0.co;2
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10.1175/1520-0442(2001)014<3117:ttitpr>2.0.co;2
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10.1175/1520-0493(1998)126<3303:SOTGTP>2.0.CO;2
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10.1175/1520-0493(1999)127<2248:THAWAT>2.0.CO;2
424:, for example, particularly those of tropical origin, will
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concentrations, so an appropriate boundary can be defined.
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517:"Temperature, Humidity, and Wind at the Global Tropopause"
435:. Such oscillation results in a low-frequency atmospheric
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concentrations than the upper troposphere, but much lower
1127:"Cloud top height variability of strong convective cells"
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Atmospheric
Evolution on Inhabited and Lifeless Worlds
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Quarterly
Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
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Quarterly
Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society
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141:, which are the lowest two of the five layers of the
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may be too technical for most readers to understand
49:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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749:Zängl, Günther; Hoinka, Klaus P. (15 July 2001).
420:The tropopause is not a fixed boundary. Vigorous
396:ions and hydrogen. This hydrogen is then able to
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172:is between the troposphere and the stratosphere.
133:is the atmospheric boundary that demarcates the
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311:, i.e. the density that is measurable by using
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704:"Statistics of the Global Tropopause Pressure"
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932:Catling, David C.; Kasting, James F. (2017).
1231:A First Course in Atmospheric Thermodynamics
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955:Bourguet, Stephen; Linz, Marianna (2023).
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248:Learn how and when to remove this message
232:, without removing the technical details.
109:Learn how and when to remove this message
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480:International Meteorological Vocabulary
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751:"The Tropopause in the Polar Regions"
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47:adding citations to reliable sources
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373:have suggested that the effects of
352:Tropical Tropopause Layer Cold Trap
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702:Hoinka, Klaus P. (December 1998).
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961:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
887:Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
689:World Meteorological Organization
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300:. It is formed with the aid of
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34:needs additional citations for
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1263:The height of the tropopause
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763:(14): 3117 – , 3139.
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1185:Middle Atmosphere Dynamics
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572:(D10): ACL 6–1–ACL 6–12.
363:Brewer-Dobson circulation
322:potential vorticity units
191:first-order discontinuity
1229:Petty, Grant W. (2008).
982:10.5194/acp-23-7447-2023
908:10.5194/acp-13-4393-2013
287:U.S. Standard Atmosphere
262:planetary boundary layer
187:environmental lapse rate
1053:1984P&SS...32..871N
1026:10.1029/JA088iA06p04935
406:in 1 to 2 billion years
1464:Atmospheric boundaries
868:10.1002/qj.49707532603
661:10.1002/qj.49711147002
522:Monthly Weather Review
515:Hoinka, K. P. (1999).
283:temperature lapse rate
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331:potential temperature
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461:Maximum parcel level
277:and not considering
273:. In the absence of
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43:improve this article
1469:Atmosphere of Earth
1208:Dynamic meteorology
1145:1974JApMe..13..917S
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404:has predicted that
335:Northern Hemisphere
327:Southern Hemisphere
302:potential vorticity
143:atmosphere of Earth
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756:Journal of Climate
709:Journal of Climate
317:absolute vorticity
298:dynamic tropopause
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183:stratosphere
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139:stratosphere
130:
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79:
72:
65:
58:"Tropopause"
53:
41:Please help
36:verification
33:
1375:Ozone layer
1358:Thermopause
1348:Stratopause
1310:Troposphere
433:oscillation
346:water vapor
179:troposphere
147:troposphere
135:troposphere
1458:Categories
1385:Ionosphere
1380:Turbopause
1343:Tropopause
1320:Mesosphere
1168:Petty 2008
691:: 151–240.
609:Petty 2008
467:References
456:Jet stream
306:isentropic
275:inversions
170:tropopause
157:Definition
131:tropopause
99:March 2012
69:newspapers
1436:Astronomy
1353:Mesopause
1330:Exosphere
991:259520137
833:1912/3670
582:CiteSeerX
426:overshoot
416:Phenomena
408:, as the
394:hydroxide
367:cold trap
137:from the
1104:11536510
450:See also
390:hydrogen
356:In 1949
279:moisture
201:Location
1448:Science
1424:Weather
1398:Portals
1362:Exobase
1235:Madison
1141:Bibcode
1112:4360963
1084:Bibcode
1049:Bibcode
1014:Bibcode
969:Bibcode
938:Bibcode
895:Bibcode
856:Bibcode
811:Bibcode
765:Bibcode
722:Bibcode
716:(126).
649:Bibcode
574:Bibcode
531:Bibcode
371:Harvard
309:density
271:Equator
266:weather
224:Please
83:scholar
1245:
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1195:
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1076:Nature
989:
584:
486:
398:escape
386:oxygen
281:, the
85:
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1108:S2CID
987:S2CID
797:(PDF)
384:into
342:ozone
90:JSTOR
76:books
1243:ISBN
1216:ISBN
1193:ISBN
1100:PMID
484:ISBN
429:into
388:and
168:The
129:The
62:news
1149:doi
1092:doi
1080:360
1057:doi
1022:doi
977:doi
913:hdl
903:doi
864:doi
829:hdl
819:doi
807:109
773:doi
730:doi
714:126
657:doi
645:111
592:doi
570:107
539:doi
527:127
410:Sun
392:or
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