Editing Sudden stratospheric warming (section)

== History ==
SSW's were discovered by Richard Scherhag, a German Meteorologist who worked at the [[Free University of Berlin]]. Starting in 1951, Scherhag launched [[radiosonde]]s from [[Berlin Tempelhof Airport|Berlin's Tempelhof Airport]] to research temperature behavior in the upper [[stratosphere]]. However, on January 26th, 1952, Scherhag noticed that the upper stratosphere was beginning to warm at an abnormal rate. The warming continued for four days, by which time the upper stratosphere had warmed 33 °C. Scherhag reported this phenomenon in a journal later that year, expressing considerable uncertainty regarding its cause and nature.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Baldwin |first=Mark P. |last2=Ayarzagüena |first2=Blanca |last3=Birner |first3=Thomas |last4=Butchart |first4=Neal |last5=Butler |first5=Amy H. |last6=Charlton-Perez |first6=Andrew J. |last7=Domeisen |first7=Daniela I. V. |last8=Garfinkel |first8=Chaim I. |last9=Garny |first9=Hella |last10=Gerber |first10=Edwin P. |last11=Hegglin |first11=Michaela I. |last12=Langematz |first12=Ulrike |last13=Pedatella |first13=Nicholas M. |date=2021 |title=Sudden Stratospheric Warmings |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020RG000708 |journal=Reviews of Geophysics |language=en |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=e2020RG000708 |doi=10.1029/2020RG000708 |issn=1944-9208}}</ref> 

Throughout the 1950s, radiosonde coverage improved substantially worldwide, allowing major meteorological organizations all over the world to analyze the stratosphere for the first time. This improvement in coverage detected similar SSWs in 1957 and 1958, making SSWs a focus for research groups of the time. Over the next decade, these groups discovered several characteristics of and raised awareness for SSWs, leading the [[World Meteorological Organization]] to establish of the STRATWARM warning system, which launched more soundings and issued alerts on the magnitude and location of SSW events, in 1964. These groups also began to classifying SSW events based on their time of occurrence and overall magnitude, leading to the classification categories that most scientists use today.

SSW documentation and understanding has improved substantially since the modern [[weather satellite|satellite]] era began in 1979. Modern satellites make stratospheric measurements with accuracy and consistency that radiosondes never could, allowing for the creation of an SSW database and breakthroughs in SSW research. The WMO also developed STRATALERT, an international stratospheric monitoring program that monitors stratospheric conditions and documents SSW events.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Baldwin |first=Mark P. |last2=Ayarzagüena |first2=Blanca |last3=Birner |first3=Thomas |last4=Butchart |first4=Neal |last5=Butler |first5=Amy H. |last6=Charlton-Perez |first6=Andrew J. |last7=Domeisen |first7=Daniela I. V. |last8=Garfinkel |first8=Chaim I. |last9=Garny |first9=Hella |last10=Gerber |first10=Edwin P. |last11=Hegglin |first11=Michaela I. |last12=Langematz |first12=Ulrike |last13=Pedatella |first13=Nicholas M. |date=2021 |title=Sudden Stratospheric Warmings |url=https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2020RG000708 |journal=Reviews of Geophysics |language=en |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=e2020RG000708 |doi=10.1029/2020RG000708 |issn=1944-9208}}</ref>