Committee on Middle Atmosphere

Welcome to the webpage of the AMS Middle Atmosphere committee.  The main activity of our committee is planning the AMS Middle Atmosphere conference, either at the AMS annual meeting or jointly with another conference in the summer.

 

Our community focuses on processes in the stratosphere and mesosphere and their relevance to weather and climate.  These processes include:

 

  • Chemistry of the middle atmosphere, including studies of the ozone layer, its depletion, and its recovery due to the Montreal Protocol and its Amendments;
  • Changes in the middle atmosphere due to human alterations or to natural variability, on decadal to longer timescales;
  • Dynamics of the middle atmosphere, the predictability of dynamic stratospheric events, and their influence on the troposphere;
  • Transport and mixing of chemical constituents in the upper troposphere and stratosphere;
  • Aerosols and influences on radiative processes in the middle atmosphere, including volcanic eruptions and stratospheric geoengineering;
  •  Influence of atmospheric waves (ranging from gravity waves to planetary-scale waves) on the middle atmosphere
  • Connections between the stratosphere, mesosphere, and upper atmosphere;
  • Feedbacks between tropical convection and stratospheric processes;
  • the Quasi-biennial Oscillation and its teleconnections;
  • the stratospheric polar vortices and influences on mid-latitude weather and climate

 

We also are concerned with maintaining long-term observational records and modeling programs of the middle atmosphere and conveying their significance to the Society and the broader community.