Atmospheric temperature trends from observations – an update on recent advances
Presenter:
Andrea K. Steiner
Wegener Center for Climate and Global Change, University of Graz, Graz, Austria
Talk
We present highlights from work of the WCRP/SPARC activity on Atmospheric Temperature Changes and their Drivers (ATC). The aim of the ATC activity is to improve knowledge on atmospheric climate variability and trends. This comprises the evaluation of atmospheric temperature observations, including emerging novel climate records, their comparison with (chemistry) climate models and reanalyses, and the provision of uncertainty information. Over the last years, substantial efforts have led to improved data sets. Satellite measurements have been reprocessed and/or merged and the presently available records provide layer-averaged temperatures from 1979 to present. Vertical profile information on atmospheric temperature is available from limb viewing satellite sounders, lidars, and radiosondes. Since 2001, also observations from GPS radio occultation provide temperature information with high vertical resolution. We present an update on atmospheric temperature changes from these observations and discuss results for layer averaged temperatures and for vertically resolved atmospheric variability and trends as well as their uncertainties.
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