On the annual variation in height of the tropical tropopause.

Abstract

The existence of an annual variation in height and temperature of the tropopause over tropical regions has long been recognized, but has not been fully explained. It is proposed that the variation is a fairly direct response to the annual variation in average tropical surface insolation. The variation in insolation causes a corresponding annual cycle in average tropical sea surface temperature with a total range of order 1 K. The consequent variation in absolute humidity in turn produces an annual variation in upper tropospheric potential temperatures, and hence in the height and temperature of the tropopause.-from Authors