The Stratosphere

1 Berlin and the Stratosphere.- 1.1 The first meteorological observations.- 1.2 The exploration of the free atmosphere.- 1.3 The discovery of the stratosphere.- 1.4 The Royal Prussian Aeronautical Observatory at Lindenberg.- 1.5 The Institute of Meteorology at the Freie Universität Berlin.- Literature.- 2 A Brief Description of the Stratospheric Climate.- 2.1 What kind of data is available today?.- 2.2 Mean conditions in the stratosphere.- 2.3 Variability and trends.- Literature.- 3 Warm and Cold Winters in the Stratosphere.- 3.1 Introduction.- 3.2 Synoptic description of a major midwinter warming.- 3.3 Associations.- 3.4 A comparison between the Arctic and Antarctic.- 3.5 Model experiments.- Literature.- 4 The Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO).- 4.1 Early observations.- 4.2 The discovery of the QBO in the equatorial stratosphere..- 4.3 Our present concept of the QBO.- 4.4 The connection between the QBO and high northern latitudes.- Literature.- 5 The Ozone Layer.- 5.1 Introduction.- 5.2 Early observations.- 5.3 The natural distribution of total ozone.- 5.4 Loss of stratospheric ozone caused by man.- Literature.- 6 The 11-Year Sunspot Cycle and the Stratosphere.- 6.1 Introduction.- 6.2 The solar signal in the stratosphere during the year.- 6.3 Is there a connection to the tropical troposphere?.- 6.4 Total ozone and the 11-year sunspot cycle.- 6.5 In search of a physical-dynamical mechanism.- Literature.- 7 Final Remarks.- 7.1 A summary.- 7.2 Is the stratosphere relevant to our climate?.- 7.3 The unexpected.- Table of Boxes.