Characteristics of Double Tropopause Layers Observed During TORERO

The existence of double tropopauses is indicated in data collected during the Tropical Ocean tRoposphere Exchange of Reactive halogen species and Oxygenated VOC (TORERO) experiment in January - February 2012. Airborne remote and in situ measurements from the NSF/NCAR Gulfstream V place tropopause heights at ~12-13 km and ~16-17 km during oceanic flights westward and southward from Antofagasta, Chile. Coastal radiosonde profiles confirm the locations of these tropopause layers. Various measurements define and characterize the transition layer between the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. The Microwave Temperature Profiler (MTP), a scanning radiometer which measures emitted radiation at three frequencies, provides temperature vertical structure over a layer several kilometers above and below the aircraft with vertical resolution sufficient to resolve the tropopause. Tropopause height as determined from the temperature profile is based on the cold point and lapse rate transitions. In situ measurements of trace gases such as ozone, carbon monoxide, and water vapor also provide distinct signatures at the tropopause, although the aircraft did not always reach sufficient altitudes to detect the second tropopause. Model profiles of temperature and trace gases were also generated by the Real-time Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS) during TORERO. RAQMS is a global meteorological, chemical and aerosol assimilation/forecasting system that assimilates real-time stratospheric ozone retrievals from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS), total column ozone from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), and aerosol optical depth (AOD) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). In this paper, observations of the TORERO double tropopause features as defined by temperature and trace gas profiles are presented and compared to model-defined tropopause properties.