Change in the attenuation coefficient of light at the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere

TL;DR

This paper investigates how the attenuation coefficient of visible light changes at the boundary between the troposphere and stratosphere, proposing a method to accurately determine the tropopause height using optical sensors on radiosondes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel optical measurement technique to precisely identify the tropopause boundary by detecting sharp changes in light attenuation.

Findings

Sharp change in attenuation coefficient marks the tropopause boundary

Optical sensors on radiosondes provide repeatable measurements

Method enhances accuracy of tropopause height determination

Abstract

The tropopause is the boundary between the troposphere and the stratosphere, so its height determines the nature of processes in the atmosphere and depends on them. The criterion for determining the height of the tropopause is a decrease in the vertical temperature gradient in a layer above 5 km and at least 2 km thick. Consequently, the uncertainty in determining the height of the section between the troposphere and the stratosphere is 2 km or more. In addition, the temperature profile changes due to the influence of many reasons, so sometimes the height of the tropopause cannot even be determined. The optical properties of air in the troposphere and stratosphere differ, which makes it possible to measure the height of the section with high accuracy using a radiosonde with an optical sensor. The launches of radiosondes with optical sensors made it possible to measure the height of the tropopause by changing the attenuation coefficient of visible light. It turned out that the lower edge of the tropopause corresponds to a sharp change in the attenuation coefficient. The repeatability of the results was confirmed by the simultaneous launch of radiosondes. The results of the work will be useful for the tasks of weather forecasting and climate research.