Temperature Variability in the Low Stratosphere from AIRS

We use the 7-year (2002-2009) data record obtained by the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) onboard of Aqua spacecraft to investigate the low stratosphere temperature variability. The AIRS deliver accurate, simultaneous measurements of the temperature at different levels of the stratosphere. The AIRS data provide twice per day coverage of the Earth’s atmosphere from the sea level to the stratosphere. All-sky (including cloudy), day and night data are analyzed. We investigate the temperature variability over selected zonally averaged regions and in masked Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans areas. Taking into account the nonlinear and non-stationary behavior of the temperature we use the data analysis adaptive to the data. We apply the Empirical Mode Decomposition (Huang and Wu, Rev. Geophys. 2008) to better separate modes of variability and trend. We discuss potential physical mechanisms driving the temperature variability.