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Autores principales: Ko, Han-Chang, Sun, Hongwei
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2026
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Acceso en línea:https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04040
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author Ko, Han-Chang
Sun, Hongwei
author_facet Ko, Han-Chang
Sun, Hongwei
contents Stratospheric turbulence is difficult to observe, yet it strongly affects how momentum, trace gases, and aerosols spread through the atmosphere. Here, we use global high-resolution radiosonde observations from 370 stations during October 2014-December 2025 to estimate stratospheric turbulent diffusivity with a Richardson-number-based method. We find that turbulent diffusivity spans a broad range and is dominated by turbulence occurring in statically stable but strongly sheared conditions. Enhanced values appear over Turkey, India, Malaysia, Japan, and major mountainous regions, with evidence that mountain waves and convective activity both contribute. We also identify a local maximum just above the tropical tropopause, between the Equator and 15 N at 17 km altitude, which may indicate an injection region conducive to the rapid aerosol dispersion for stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). Stratospheric turbulent diffusivity also shows a significant increase ($3.5 \times 10^{-3}\ \mathrm{m^2\ s^{-1}\ yr^{-1}}$) over 2015-2025. Finally, these results may help constrain and predict the dispersion of stratospheric plumes from rockets, aircraft, and potential SAI.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_04040
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Spatial and temporal distribution of stratospheric turbulence from global high-resolution radiosonde data
Ko, Han-Chang
Sun, Hongwei
Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Fluid Dynamics
Stratospheric turbulence is difficult to observe, yet it strongly affects how momentum, trace gases, and aerosols spread through the atmosphere. Here, we use global high-resolution radiosonde observations from 370 stations during October 2014-December 2025 to estimate stratospheric turbulent diffusivity with a Richardson-number-based method. We find that turbulent diffusivity spans a broad range and is dominated by turbulence occurring in statically stable but strongly sheared conditions. Enhanced values appear over Turkey, India, Malaysia, Japan, and major mountainous regions, with evidence that mountain waves and convective activity both contribute. We also identify a local maximum just above the tropical tropopause, between the Equator and 15 N at 17 km altitude, which may indicate an injection region conducive to the rapid aerosol dispersion for stratospheric aerosol injection (SAI). Stratospheric turbulent diffusivity also shows a significant increase ($3.5 \times 10^{-3}\ \mathrm{m^2\ s^{-1}\ yr^{-1}}$) over 2015-2025. Finally, these results may help constrain and predict the dispersion of stratospheric plumes from rockets, aircraft, and potential SAI.
title Spatial and temporal distribution of stratospheric turbulence from global high-resolution radiosonde data
topic Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics
Fluid Dynamics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.04040