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Between 15 and 19 March 2022, East Antarctica experienced an exceptional heat wave with widespread 30°–40°C temperature anomalies across the ice sheet. This record-shattering event saw numerous monthly temperature records being broken including a new all-time temperature record of −9.4°C on 18 March at Concordia Station despite March typically being a transition month to the Antarctic coreless winter. The driver for these temperature extremes was an intense atmospheric river advecting subtropical/midlatitude heat and moisture deep into the Antarctic interior. The scope of the temperature records spurred a large, diverse collaborative effort to study the heat wave’s meteorological drivers, impacts, and historical climate context. Here we focus on describing those temperature records along with the intricate meteorological drivers that led to the most intense atmospheric river observed over East Antarctica. These efforts describe the Rossby wave activity forced from intense tropical convection over the Indian Ocean. This led to an atmospheric river and warm conveyor belt intensification near the coastline, which reinforced atmospheric blocking deep into East Antarctica. The resulting moisture flux and upper-level warm-air advection eroded the typical surface temperature inversions over the ice sheet. At the peak of the heat wave, an area of 3.3 million km 2 in East Antarctica exceeded previous March monthly temperature records. Despite a temperature anomaly return time of about 100 years, a closer recurrence of such an event is possible under future climate projections. In Part II we describe the various impacts this extreme event had on the East Antarctic cryosphere.

The important roles that the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) plays in the central Arctic climate system have been recognized, but the atmospheric boundary layer height (ABLH), defined as the layer of continuous turbulence adjacent to the surface, has rarely been investigated. Using a year-round radiosonde dataset during the Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate (MOSAiC) expedition, we improve a Richardson-number-based algorithm that takes cloud effects into consideration and subsequently analyze the characteristics and variability of the ABLH over the Arctic Ocean. The results reveal that the annual cycle is clearly characterized by a distinct peak in May and two respective minima in January and July. This annual variation in the ABLH is primarily controlled by the evolution of the ABL thermal structure. Temperature inversions in the winter and summer are intensified by seasonal radiative cooling and warm-air advection with the surface temperature constrained by melting, respectively, leading to the low ABLH at these times. Meteorological and turbulence variables also play a significant role in ABLH variation, including the near-surface potential temperature gradient, friction velocity, and turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) dissipation rate. In addition, the MOSAiC ABLH is more suppressed than the ABLH during the Surface Heat Budget of the Arctic Ocean (SHEBA) experiment in the summer, which indicates that there is large variability in the Arctic ABL structure during the summer melting season.

The variability of the lower tropospheric temperature inversion (TI) across China remains poorly understood. Using seven years’ worth of high-resolution radiosonde measurements at 120 sites, we compile the climatology of lower tropospheric TI in terms of frequency, intensity, and depth during the period from 2011 to 2017. The TI generally exhibits strong seasonal and geographic dependencies. Particularly, the TI frequency is found to be high in winter and low in summer, likely due to the strong aerosol radiative effect in winter. The frequency of the surface-based inversion (SBI) exhibits a “west low, east high” pattern at 0800 Beijing time (BJT), which then switches to “west high, east low” at 2000 BJT. Both the summertime SBI and elevated inversion (EI) reach a peak at 0800 BJT and a trough at 1400 BJT. Interestingly, the maximum wintertime EI frequency occurs over Southeast China (SEC) rather than over the North China Plain (NCP), likely attributable to the combination of the heating effect of black carbon (BC) originating from the NCP, along with the strong subsidence and trade inversion in SEC. Correlation analyses between local meteorology and TI indicate that larger lower tropospheric stability (LTS) favors more frequent and stronger TIs, whereas the stronger EI under smaller LTS conditions (unstable atmosphere) is more associated with subsidence rather than BC. Overall, the spatial pattern of the lower tropospheric TI and its variability in China are mainly controlled by three factors: local meteorology, large-scale subsidence, and BC-induced heating. These findings help shed some light on the magnitude, spatial distribution, and underlying mechanisms of the lower tropospheric TI variation in China.

The cities of Chengdu, Deyang, and Mianyang in the northwest Sichuan Basin are part of a rapidly developing urban agglomeration adjoining the eastern slopes of the Tibetan Plateau. Heavy air pollution events have frequently occurred over these cities in recent decades, but the effects of meteorological conditions on these pollution events are unclear. We explored the effects of weather systems on winter heavy air pollution from 1 January 2006 to 31 December 2012 and from 1 January 2014 to 28 February 2017. A total of 10 heavy air pollution events occurred during the research period and 8 of these took place while the region was affected by a dry low-pressure system at 700 hPa. When the urban agglomeration was in front of the low-pressure system and the weather conditions were controlled by a warm southerly air flow, a strong temperature inversion appeared above the atmospheric boundary layer acting as a lid. Forced by this strong inversion layer, the local secondary circulation was confined to the atmospheric boundary layer, and the horizontal wind speed in the lower troposphere was low. As a result, vertical mixing and horizontal dispersion in the atmosphere were poor, favoring the formation of heavy air pollution events. After the low-pressure system had transited over the region, the weather conditions in the urban agglomeration were controlled by a dry and cold air flow from the northwest at 700 hPa. The strong inversion layer gradually dissipated, the secondary circulation enhanced and uplifted, and the horizontal wind speed in the lower troposphere also increased, resulting in a sharp decrease in the concentration of air pollutants. The strong inversion layer above the atmospheric boundary layer induced by the low-pressure system at 700 hPa thus played a key role in the formation of heavy air pollution during the winter months in this urban agglomeration. This study provides scientific insights for forecasting heavy air pollution in this region of China.

Concurrence of temperature inversion (TI) and humidity inversion (HI) is a particular configuration of the atmospheric boundary layer with important implications for early warning of fog formation. With a microwave radiometer device deployed in a 2‐month winter campaign at a coastal island in Qingdao, China, we here examine the relationship between TI and HI, and investigate the underneath mechanisms. Cases of temperature inversion are further divided into surface‐based temperature inversion (SBTI) and elevated temperature inversion (ETI), which show different relationship with HI. SBTI typically occurs at night with its strength significantly and positively correlated with HI. ETI also shows a high degree of temporal overlap with HI, but its strength has no obvious relationship with HI. The main explanation for this phenomenon is that ETI may block the vertical diffusion of water vapor, resulting in the formation of HI. Plain Language Summary Temperature inversion (TI) and humidity inversion (HI) often occur simultaneously. Knowledge of their concurrence is, however, still quite limited, due to the lack of continuous observations. Using a 2‐month winter observation data set, obtained with a microwave radiometer device deployed in Qingdao, China, a coastal city of the Yellow Sea, we carefully examined the correlation between TI and HI. TI is furthermore regrouped into surface‐based temperature inversion (SBTI) and elevated temperature inversion (ETI). Although SBTI and ETI both occur frequently, accompanied with HI, the underneath physical mechanism seems different. For SBTI, the bottom of HI absorbs the radiation emitted from the ground, increases the temperature difference between the land and atmosphere, and finally enhances SBTI. However, ETI plays the role of blocking the water vapor turbulent diffusion and contributes to the development of HI. Key Points Both surface‐based temperature inversion (SBTI) and elevated temperature inversion (ETI) show concurrence with humidity inversion (HI) Theories of water vapor condensation and turbulent diffusion blockage may not be sufficient for the concurrence of SBTI and HI ETI blocks the upward turbulent diffusion of water vapor, contributing to the formation of HI

Residential wood combustion is a widespread practice in Europe with a serious impact on air quality, especially in mountainous areas. While there is a significant number of studies conducted in deep urbanized valleys and basins, little is known about the air pollution processes in rural shallow hollows, where around 30 % of the people in mountainous areas across Europe live. We aim to determine the influence of ground temperature inversions on wood combustion aerosol pollution in hilly, rural areas. The study uses Retje karst hollow (Loški Potok, Slovenia) as a representative site for mountainous and hilly rural areas in central and south-eastern Europe with residential wood combustion. Sampling with a mobile monitoring platform along the hollow was performed in December 2017 and January 2018. The backpack mobile monitoring platform was used for the determination of equivalent black carbon (eBC) and particulate matter (PM) mass concentrations along the hollow. To ensure high quality of mobile measurement data, intercomparisons of mobile instruments with reference instruments were performed at two air quality stations during every run. Our study showed that aerosol pollution events in the relief depression were associated with high local emission intensities originating almost entirely from residential wood burning and shallow temperature inversions (58 m on average). The eBC and PM mass concentrations showed stronger associations with the potential temperature gradient (R2=0.8) than with any other meteorological parameters taken into account (ambient temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, wind direction, and precipitation). The strong association between the potential temperature gradient and pollutant concentrations suggests that even a small number of emission sources (total 243 households in the studied hollow) in similar hilly and mountainous rural areas with frequent temperature inversions can significantly increase the levels of eBC and PM and deteriorate local air quality. During temperature inversions the measured mean eBC and PM2.5 mass concentrations in the whole hollow were as high as 4.5±2.6 and 48.0 ± 27.7 µg m−3, respectively, which is comparable to larger European urban centres.

The mesospheric inversion layer (MIL) phenomenon is a temperature enhancement (10–50 K) in a vertical layer (∼10 km) lasting several days and spanning thousands of kilometers within the mesosphere. As MILs govern the mesospheric variability, their study is crucial for a better understanding of the middle‐atmosphere global circulation. MIL phenomenon is also important for applications in aeronautics as perturbations in the mesosphere are significant issues for the safe reentry of rockets, space shuttles, or missiles. However, the description of this phenomenon remains incomplete, since no observations of MIL's effects on winds exist, hampering an understanding of the mechanisms responsible for their formation. This study investigates simultaneous wind‐temperature observations in the altitude range of 30–90 km during MIL events. Strong winds deceleration occurred in the same altitude range as the temperature inversion, confirming the role of gravity waves in MIL's formation mechanisms. Plain Language Summary Atmospheric waves propagate from the lower to upper layers, transferring their energy throughout the atmosphere. The mesosphere (50–90 km) is subject to these energy transfers, causing unexpected temperature increases (10–50 K) over a vertical layer (∼10 km). These deviations are called mesospheric inversion layers (MILs). Though largely observed in temperature profiles, the MIL phenomenon remains misunderstood, as MIL's impacts on the wind in the middle atmosphere remain unknown. In this study, we first reported simultaneous wind‐temperature observations between 30 and 90 km during MIL events. We observed a strong wind deceleration in the same altitude range where the temperature increases. This result argues in favor of the role of gravity waves in MIL's formation mechanisms. Key Points First simultaneous wind and temperature observations in the altitude range 30–90 km during mesospheric inversion layer events According to these new observations, there is a strong wind deceleration occurring at the same altitude that the temperature inversion These results argue in favor of the mesospheric inversion layer's formation mechanism involving gravity wave dissipation

The regional transport of air pollutants, controlled by emission sources and meteorological factors, results in a complex source–receptor relationship of air pollution change. Wuhan, a metropolis in the Yangtze River middle basin (YRMB) of central China, experienced heavy air pollution characterized by hourly PM2.5 concentrations reaching 471.1 µg m-3 in January 2016. To investigate the regional transport of PM2.5 over central eastern China (CEC) and the meteorological impact on wintertime air pollution in the YRMB area, observed meteorological and other relevant environmental data from January 2016 were analyzed. Our analysis presented noteworthy cases of heavy PM2.5 pollution in the YRMB area with unique “non-stagnant” meteorological conditions of strong northerly winds, no temperature inversion, and additional unstable structures in the atmospheric boundary layer. This unique set of conditions differed from the stagnant meteorological conditions characterized by near-surface weak winds, air temperature inversion, and stable structure in the boundary layer that are typically observed in heavy air pollution over most regions in China. The regional transport of PM2.5 over CEC aggravated PM2.5 levels, thus creating heavy air pollution in the YRMB area. This demonstrates a source–receptor relationship between the originating air pollution regions in CEC and the receiving YRMB region. Furthermore, a backward trajectory simulation using a Flexible Particle dispersion (FLEXPART) Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model to integrate the air pollutant emission inventory over China was used to explore the patterns of regional transport of PM2.5 governed by the strong northerly winds in the cold air activity of the East Asian winter monsoon season. It was estimated that the regional transport of PM2.5 from non-local air pollutant emissions contributes more than 65 % of the PM2.5 concentrations to the heavy air pollution in the YRMB region during the study period, revealing the importance of the regional transport of air pollutants over China as a causative factor of heavy air pollution over the YRMB area.

The weather conditions affecting aerosol pollution in Beijing and its vicinity (BIV) in wintertime have worsened in recent years, particularly after 2010. The relation between interdecadal changes in weather conditions and climate warming is uncertain. Here, we analyze long-term variations of an integrated pollution-linked meteorological index (which is approximately and linearly related to aerosol pollution), the extent of changes in vertical temperature differences in the boundary layer (BL) in BIV, and northerly surface winds from Lake Baikal during wintertime to evaluate the potential contribution of climate warming to changes in meteorological conditions directly related to aerosol pollution in this area; this is accomplished using NCEP reanalysis data, surface observations, and long-term vertical balloon sounding observations since 1960. The weather conditions affecting BIV aerosol pollution are found to have worsened since the 1960s as a whole. This worsening is more significant after 2010, with PM2.5 reaching unprecedented high levels in many cities in China, particularly in BIV. The decadal worsening of meteorological conditions in BIV can partly be attributed to climate warming, which is defined by more warming in the higher layers of the boundary layer (BL) than the lower layers. This worsening can also be influenced by the accumulation of aerosol pollution, to a certain extent (particularly after 2010), because the increase in aerosol pollution from the ground leads to surface cooling by aerosol–radiation interactions, which facilitates temperature inversions, increases moisture accumulations, and results in the extra deterioration of meteorological conditions. If analyzed as a linear trend, weather conditions have worsened by ∼ 4 % each year from 2010 to 2017. Given such a deterioration rate, the worsening of weather conditions may lead to a corresponding amplitude increase in PM2.5 in BIV during wintertime in the next 5 years (i.e., 2018 to 2022). More stringent emission reduction measures will need to be conducted by the government.

Acrucial region of the ocean surface boundary layer (OSBL) is the strongly-sheared and -stratified transition layer (TL) separating the mixed layer from the upper pycnocline, where a diverse range of waves and instabilities are possible. Previous work suggests that these different waves and instabilities will lead to different OSBL behaviours. Therefore, understanding which physical processes occur is key for modelling the TL. Here we present observations of the TL from a Lagrangian float deployed for 73 days near Ocean Weather Station Papa (50°N, 145°W) during Fall 2018. The float followed the vertical motion of the TL, continuously measuring profiles across it using an ADCP, temperature chain and salinity sensors. The temperature chain made depth/time images of TL structures with a resolution of 6cm and 3 seconds. These showed the frequent occurrence of very sharp interfaces, dominated by temperature jumps of O(1)°C over 6cm or less. Temperature inversions were typically small (≲ 10cm), frequent, and strongly-stratified; very few large overturns were observed. The corresponding velocity profiles varied over larger length scales than the temperature profiles. These structures are consistent with scouring behaviour rather than Kelvin-Helmholtz-type overturning. Their net effect, estimated via a Thorpe-scale analysis, suggests that these frequent small temperature inversions can account for the observed mixed layer deepening and entrainment flux. Corresponding estimates of dissipation, diffusivity, and heat fluxes also agree with previous TL studies, suggesting that the TL dynamics is dominated by these nearly continuous 10cm-scale mixing structures, rather than by less frequent larger overturns.