The stratosphere, the layer of the atmosphere at heights between 10-50 km, is an important source of variability for the weather and climate at the Earth’s surface on timescales of weeks to decades. Since the stratospheric circulation evolves more slowly than that of the troposphere below, it can contribute to predictability at the surface.
With a better understanding of stratosphere-troposphere coupling, it may be possible to link more tropospheric extremes to stratospheric forcing, which will be crucial for emergency planning and management.
The following presentation is part of the National Weather Service’s Climate Services Seminar. Dr. Amy Butler studies large-scale climate variability, teleconnections, atmospheric dynamics, stratospheric processes, and sub-seasonal to seasonal prediction. She is particularly interested in the stratospheric polar vortex and its influence on surface weather and extremes. Dr. Butler received her PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from Colorado State University. She worked at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center from 2009-2013. Since then, she has been working at the NOAA Chemical Sciences Laboratory.