The Stratosphere in the Southern Hemisphere

Abstract

The stratosphere over the Southern Hemisphere was known only locally and mainly in its lowest levels until satellite measurements of radiance became a reality. As we are using these recent data in addition to midseason, monthly mean maps for 1969 as principal means of description, much of our material is unlikely to be representative of long-term conditions, and our conclusions cannot always be so firm as we may seem to express them. In addition, necessity limits us to deal chiefly with the lower half of the stratosphere, below 10 mb. We have tried, however, to ease these severe restrictions by referring as often as possible to the better known Northern Hemisphere for analogy and contrast. Some aspects of the mean state of the stratosphere below 100 mb have been dealt with in Chapters 3–5.

Scientific Visitor at NCAR.

The National Center for Atmospheric Research is sponsored by the National Science Foundation.