Abstract. We have used a variety of satellite, ground-based, and in situ observations to construct a climatology of the semiannual oscillation (SAO) of the tropical middle atmosphere. The sources of data include rocketsonde observations of winds and temperature, MF radar wind observations, and observations of winds and temperatures made from space by the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) and the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME). These data sets provide a generally consistent picture of the SAO, of the relationship between its stratospheric and mesospheric manifestations, and of its apparent modulation by the stratospheric quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). In agreement with earlier studies, we find that the first cycle of the stratospheric SAO (which begins with the stratopause easterly phase in northern winter) is stronger than the second cycle (beginning with the easterly phase in southern winter). Similar behavior is apparent in the mesosphere, where the easterly phase is stronger during the first cycle than during the second cycle. HRDI and MF radar are capable of observing the seasonal cycle well into the lower thermosphere. Data from these two sources indicate that a strong $AO is present up to about 90 kin, giving way above this altitude to time mean easterly winds with a weak semiannual variation. Between 105 and 110 km, HRDI data indicate the presence of a westerly wind layer with Mmost no seasonal variation. Apparent modulation of the stratospheric SAO by the QBO is found in rocketsonde data, while HRDI and MF radar observations suggest a correlation between the QBO and the easterly phase of the mesospheric SAO. We discuss the implications of these observations for the wave processes that drive the $AO.

[1] The zonal wave number 1 planetary wave of period near 6.5 days is a robust feature in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region with prominent seasonal variability as revealed by ground based and satellite observations. This wave and its seasonal variability are well reproduced in a recent one model year run of the National Center for Atmospheric Research thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere-electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME-GCM) with its lower boundary specified according to the National Centers for Environmental Prediction analysis (year 1993). Wavelet analysis of the model output shows that in the MLT region the wave maximizes before and after the equinoxes and minimizes at solstices. The wave amplitudes at the equinoxes are smaller than the peaks before and after but are still larger than the wave amplitudes at solstices. However, at the lower boundary near 30 km the wave peaks are predominantly between fall and the following spring. By examining the episodes of maximum and minimum wave amplitude and by conducting additional control experiments using the TIME-GCM, the structure of this planetary wave and the factors determining the wave characteristics and seasonal variability are studied in detail. It is found that the wave source, mean wind structure, instability, and the critical layers of the wave can all affect the wave response in the MLT region and can have a strong seasonal dependence. Before and after equinox, the wave follows the waveguide and propagates from the stratosphere to the summer mesosphere/mesopause, where it may amplify due to baroclinic/barotropic instability. Such instability is usually absent from the equinoctial atmosphere, so that there is no wave amplification at equinox. At solstice the wave decays significantly when propagating away from its winter source due to the strong eastward winter stratospheric jet. In the summer side the westward jet is also strong, and the meridional and vertical extension of the critical layer of the wave is large enough to enclose the instability in the summer mesosphere/mesopause at middle to high latitudes. The wave is thus reflected away and prevented from reaching and amplifying at the unstable region. The seasonal variation of the quasi-two-day wave, which has zonal phase speed similar to the 6.5-day wave, is also studied using similar diagnostics. It is further shown that within certain seasonal ''window'' periods, the variability in the MLT, especially the summer MLT, may closely track the lower atmospheric variability associated with these waves.

d. Open access institutional repositoriesThe AMS understands there is increasing demand for institutions to provide open access to the published research being produced by employees, such as faculty, of that institution. In recognition of this, the AMS grants permission to each of its authors to deposit the definitive version of that author's published AMS journal article in the repository of the author's institution provided all of the following conditions are met: The article lists the institution hosting the repository as the author's affiliation.  The copy provided to the repository is the final published PDF of the article (not the EOR version made available by AMS prior to formal publication; see section 6).  The repository does not provide access to the article until six months after the date of publication of the definitive version by the AMS.  The repository copy includes the AMS copyright notice. T he Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) was the first comprehensive measurement program devoted to quantifying the evolution of gravity waves (GWs) arising from sources at lower altitudes as they propagate, interact with mean and other wave motions, and ultimately dissipate from Earth's surface into the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Research goals motivating the DEEPWAVE measurement program are summarized in Table 1. To achieve our research goals, DEEPWAVE needed to sample regions having large horizontal extents because of large horizontal GW propagation distances for some GW sources. DEEPWAVE accomplished this goal through airborne and ground-based (GB) measurements that together provided sensitivity to multiple GW sources and their propagation to, and effects at, higher altitudes. DEEPWAVE was performed over and around the GW "hotspot" region of New Zealand (Fig.1, top) during austral winter, when strong vortex edge westerlies provide a stable environment for deep GW propagation into the MLT.DEEPWAVE airborne measurements employed two research aircraft during a core 6-week airborne field program based at Christchurch, New Zealand, from 6 June to 21 July 2014. The National Science 425MARCH 2016 AMERICAN METEOROLOGICAL SOCIETY | Foundation (NSF)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Gulfstream V (GV) provided in situ, dropsonde, and microwave temperature profiler (MTP) measurements extending from Earth's surface to ~20 km throughout the core field program (see Table 2). The GV also carried three new instruments designed specifically to address DEEPWAVE science goals: 1) a Rayleigh lidar measuring densities and temperatures from ~20 to 60 km, 2) a sodium resonance lidar measuring sodium densities and temperatures from ~75 to 100 km, and 3) an advanced mesosphere temperature mapper (AMTM) measuring temperatures in a horizontal plane at ~87 km with a field of view (FOV) of ~120 km along track and 80 km cross track. AMTM measurements were augmented by two side-viewing infrared (IR) airglow "wing" cameras also viewing an ~87-km altitude that extended the cross-track FOV to ...

Observations made by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on board NASA’s Thermosphere–Ionosphere–Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite have been processed using Salby’s fast Fourier synoptic mapping (FFSM) algorithm. The mapped data provide a first synoptic look at the mean structure and traveling waves of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) since the launch of the TIMED satellite in December 2001. The results show the presence of various wave modes in the MLT, which reach largest amplitude above the mesopause and include Kelvin and Rossby–gravity waves, eastward-propagating diurnal oscillations (“non-sun-synchronous tides”), and a set of quasi-normal modes associated with the so-called 2-day wave. The latter exhibits marked seasonal variability, attaining large amplitudes during the solstices and all but disappearing at the equinoxes. SABER data also show a strong quasi-stationary Rossby wave signal throughout the middle atmosphere of the winter hemisphere; the signal extends into the Tropics and even into the summer hemisphere in the MLT, suggesting ducting by westerly background zonal winds. At certain times of the year, the 5-day Rossby normal mode and the 4-day wave associated with instability of the polar night jet are also prominent in SABER data.

A strong westward traveling oscillation, with a period of 2 days and zonal wave number 3, is observed in the mesospheric and lower thermospheric winds from the High Resolution Doppler Imager on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. The important events happen in January, July, and September/October, of which the occurrence in January is the strongest with an amplitude over 60ms−1. Detailed analyses for the periods of January 1992 and January 1993 reveal a cause‐and‐effect relationship in the wave developing process at 95km. The global structures of the wave amplitude and phase are also presented.