Variation Characteristics of Tropopause Temperature and Height
From COSMIC

The global variation characteristics of tropopause are shown by analyzing the data of temperature profiles from Radio Occultation (RO) observations aboard the satellites of COSMIC. These satellites have excellent explorations with global coverage and vertical resolution. The accurate and high vertical resolution temperature profiles from RO/COSMIC provide a unique opportunity to study the global structure and variability of tropopause. The daily mean temperature data from the day 111 of 2006 to the day 295 of 2007 are chosen for the analysis in this paper. The global distributions of tropopause height and temperature and their temporal variation depending on latitude, by using the method of Lapse Rate Tropopause (LRT), are discussed. These results indicate that the global distributions of tropopause temperature and height are consistent with the investigation by some radiosondes and the reanalyses data of the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). There are three important characteristics in the present study: (1) the obvious seasonal variation of tropopause height and temperature, (2) the reversed phase variability of tropopause height between the equatorial, lower latitude and the higher latitude, and (3) the North-South asymmetry of the annual variation of tropopause temperature and height.