Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.
Active Motif, Inc.

Site Tools

  • AAAS
  • Subscribe
  • Feedback

Site Search

Search Advanced

Science 5 December 2003:
Vol. 302. no. 5651, pp. 1691 - 1692
DOI: 10.1126/science.1092703
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Perspectives

ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCE:
How Water Enters the Stratosphere

Karen H. Rosenlof

Earth's stratosphere (from ~11 to ~50 km) contains much less water than would be expected based on the water vapor content at the boundary between the stratophere and the underlying troposphere. In her Perspective, Rosenlof discusses how this extreme aridity may arise. She highlights the report by Webster and Heymsfield, whose isotope data show that small-scale processes play an important role in the transport of water through the troposphere and into the stratosphere. These processes are not captured correctly by today's models.

The author is at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Aeronomy Laboratory, Boulder, CO 80305, USA. E-mail: krosenlof{at}al.noaa.gov

Read the Full Text

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

ADVERTISEMENT
Click Me!

To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)