Comparison of atmospheric river-related phenomena with ACE satellite data

Abstract

We present a comprehensive data analysis of coincident solar occultation data captured by the ACE satellite, alongside the atmospheric river database derived from MERRA-2 reanalysis through the ARTMIP (Atmospheric River Tracking Method Intercomparison Project) initiative. Our investigation, comparing an atmospheric river catalogue by Guan and Waliser (2015) with experimental ACE data, reveals significant differences in altitude-dependent volume-mixing ratios (VMRs) of several molecules (particularly H2O, HNO3, and O3). These differences are observed in pairs of ACE observations that are closely matched in time and location, with one point falling within an identified atmospheric river and the other outside. Additionally, we demonstrate that these differences in VMR profiles are not attributable to random atmospheric turbulence. This is achieved by contrasting our findings with a randomized set of paired ACE observations, where both data points are situated outside of atmospheric rivers. The obtained results corroborate atmospheric mixing between the troposphere and stratosphere during the passage of an atmospheric river through a specific location. Our findings demonstrate the utility of ACE satellite data in observing atmospheric phenomena associated with atmospheric rivers.