The Thermal Structure of the Stratosphere over the Tropics

Abstract

Recent temperature measurements in the stratosphere over the tropics point out that there is no isothermal layer in the lower stratosphere in these regions. An examination of the mean height temperature curves, both for the northern and southern hemispheres indicates that the lower stratosphere to the pole ward half of 45° exhibits a deep isothermal region, while that to the equatorial half does not. The transition in the northern hemisphere along 8o° W meridian has been found to occur between 48 and 51° N in summer and between 38 and 42°N in winter and coincides with the transition of the tropopause pointed out by Hess. A similar transition has been found for the southern hemisphere.