Stratosphere-troposphere exchange

Climatologies and Physics of STE (Bojan Škerlak)

The tropopause separates the chemically and dynamically distinct troposphere from the stratosphere above. Our research on the transport of air mass and pollutants across the tropopause, i.e. on stratosphere-troposphere exchange (STE), is based upon three aspects: a) the analysis of detailed case studies of STE with focus on the synoptic- and mesoscale evolution; b) the compilation of STE climatologies based upon different data sets, including the analysis of interannual variability and long-term trends; and c) the analysis of physical (e.g., radiation, latent heating, turbulence) and dynamical (e.g., PV streamers, cyclones) processes associated with the crossing of the tropopause barrier.