Meteorological Drivers of Cold Temperatures in the Western Pacific TTL

Abstract: During the recent October 2016 aircraft sampling mission of the Tropical Tropopause Layer (POSIDON — Pacific Oxidants, Sulfur, Ice, Dehydration, and cONvection), Western Pacific October TTL temperatures were anomalously cold due to a combination of La Nina conditions and a very stationary convective pattern. POSIDON also had more October Tropical Cyclones than typical, and tropical cyclones have substantial negative TTL temperatures associated with them. This paper investigates how meteorolo…