Polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere dynamics: 1. Mean wind and gravity wave climatologies

Dowdy, Andrew J.; Vincent, R. A.; Tsutsumi, Masaki; Igarashi, K.; Murayama, Yasuhiro; Singer, W.; Murphy, D. J.

doi:10.1029/2006jd008126

Cited by 56 publications

(114 citation statements)

References 48 publications

(67 reference statements)

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“…Studies of mean winds in the Antarctic MLT include those of Portnyagin et al (1992Portnyagin et al ( , 1993Portnyagin et al ( , 2006, Vincent (1994), Dowdy et al (2001Dowdy et al ( , 2007a, Kishore et al (2003), Hibbins et al (2005), Merzlyakov et al (2009). Here, we will not consider further the studies of Portnyagin et al (1992), Merzlyakov et al (2009) because they used meteor radars without height-finding capability and so reported winds that are averages across the meteor region, rather than revealing the vertical structure of the winds.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here, we will not consider further the studies of Portnyagin et al (1992), Merzlyakov et al (2009) because they used meteor radars without height-finding capability and so reported winds that are averages across the meteor region, rather than revealing the vertical structure of the winds. Portnyagin et al (1993Portnyagin et al ( , 2006, Vincent (1994), Dowdy et al (2001Dowdy et al ( , 2007a, Kishore et al (2003), Hibbins et al (2005) used selections of MF and Meteor radars at: Syowa (69…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those studies that have attempted to quantify the differences between the mean winds of the two MLT regions include: Portnyagin et al (1993), Dowdy et al (2001Dowdy et al ( , 2007a, Kishore et al (2003). These studies generally revealed significant differences between the Antarctic and Arctic.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nevertheless, in the Arctic MF and Meteor radars have been used to establish a limited number of simple climatologies of the zonal and meridional mean winds. These include the MF radar studies of Portnyagin et al (1992Portnyagin et al ( , 1993Portnyagin et al ( , 2004; Dowdy et al (2001Dowdy et al ( , 2007a; Hall et al (2003); Kishore et al (2003) and the meteor radar studies of Hocking (2001); Mitchell et al (2002); Hall et al (2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This is largely because of the difficulty in operating ground-based radars for extended intervals in Antarctica. Despite these difficulties, MF and meteor radars have been used to measure the seasonal variability of MLT region mean winds in the Antarctic in a limited number of studies (e.g., Portnyagin et al, 1992Portnyagin et al, , 1993Vincent, 1994;Dowdy et al, 2001Dowdy et al, , 2007aKishore et al, 2003;Hibbins et al, 2005;Baumgaertner et al, 2005;Merzlyakov et al, 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere – Part 1: Mean winds

et al. 2010

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Abstract. Zonal and meridional winds have been measured in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere at polar latitudes using two ground-based meteor radars. One radar is located at Rothera (68 • S, 68 • W) in the Antarctic and has been operational since February 2005. The second radar is located at Esrange (68 • N, 21 • E) in the Arctic and has been operational since October 1999. Both radars have produced relatively continuous measurements. Here we consider measurements made up to the end of 2009. Both radars are of similar design and at conjugate geographical latitudes, making the results directly comparable and thus allowing investigation of the differences in the mean winds of the Antarctic and Arctic regions. The data from each radar have been used to construct climatologies of monthly-mean zonal and meridional winds at heights between 80 and 100 km. Both Antarctic and Arctic data sets reveal seasonally varying zonal and meridional winds in which the broad pattern repeats from year to year. In particular, the zonal winds display a strong shear in summer associated with the upper part of the westward summertime zonal jet. The winds generally reverse to eastward flow at heights of ∼90 km. The zonal winds are eastward throughout the rest of the year. The meridional winds are generally equatorward over both sites, although brief episodes of poleward flow are often evident near the equinoxes and during winter. The strongest equatorward flows occur at heights of ∼90 km during summer.There are significant differences between the mean winds observed in the Antarctic and Arctic. In particular, the westward winds in summer are stronger and occur earlier in the season in the Antarctic compared with the Arctic. The eastward winds evident above the summertime zonal wind reversal are significantly stronger in the Arctic. The summertime equatorward flow in the Antarctic is slightly weaker, but occurs over a greater depth than is the case in the Arctic.Correspondence to: D. J. Sandford (d.j.sandford@bath.ac.uk) Comparisons of these observations with those of the URAP and HWM-07 empirical models reveal a number of significant differences. In particular, the zonal winds observed in the Antarctic during wintertime are significantly weaker than those of URAP. However, the URAP zonal winds are a good match to the observations of the Arctic. Significant differences are evident between the observations and HWM-07. In particular, the strong wintertime zonal winds of the Arctic in HWM-07 are not evident in the observations and the summertime zonal winds in HWM-07 are systematically stronger than observed. The agreement with meridional winds is generally poor.There is a significant amount of inter-annual variability in the observed zonal and meridional winds. Particularly high variability is observed in the Arctic zonal winds in spring and is probably associated with stratospheric warmings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere – Part 1: Mean winds

et al. 2010

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The climatology of zonal wave numbers 1 and 2 planetary wave structure in the MLT using a chain of Northern Hemisphere SuperDARN radars

Kleinknecht

Hibbins²

2014

JGR Atmospheres

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The zonal wave components 1 and 2 were extracted from the meridional wind along the latitude band of 51–66°N for the years 2000–2008 using eight Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars spanning longitudes from 25°E to 150°W. Each extracted zonal component represents the superposition of all temporal periods with that zonal structure and indicates the total planetary wave energy available with that wave number. The Hovmöller diagrams show stationary as well as eastward and westward traveling planetary waves propagating in the background wind. The method used to detect the zonal planetary wave components in the SuperDARN data are detailed and validated using UK Meteorological Office data, which allows the evolution of S1 and S2 planetary wave energy between the stratosphere and mesosphere to be assessed. The climatology of zonal wave number 1 and 2 planetary wave activity in the mesosphere‐lower thermosphere (MLT) is presented and compared to the activity in the stratosphere. The MLT climatology of the mean wind anomalies shows stronger planetary wave activity during winter and weaker activity during summer with enhancement around midsummer and autumn equinox. The climatology of the mean wind displays similar amplitudes apart from very strong S1 planetary wave amplitudes during summer. In addition planetary wave activity during winters with major and minor stratospheric warming events are examined and contrasted.

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Gravity wave variations in the polar stratosphere and mesosphere from SOFIE/AIM temperature observations

Xiao

Yue

et al. 2014

J. Geophys. Res. Atmos.

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A 6 year (2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013) temperature data set from the Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) onboard the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite is used to extract gravity waves (GWs) in the polar stratosphere and mesosphere of both hemispheres. These data are continuous in the polar regions. The monthly mean GW potential energy (PE) increases exponentially with a scale height of~13 km in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere. GWs are stronger in the winter than in the summer and exhibit strong annual variation. GWs are stronger in the southern polar region (SPR) than in the northern polar region (NPR) except in the summer months. This is likely because there are stronger and longer-lasting zonal wind jets in the SPR stratosphere, as revealed from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications (MERRA) wind data. The longitudinal variations of PE in the winter polar stratosphere are consistent with the elevated regions. In the mesosphere, the longitudinal variations of PE do not vary with height significantly. The correlations between GW PE and the column ice water content (IWC, an indicator of the polar mesosphere cloud) exhibit longitudinal and annual variations.

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Polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere dynamics: 1. Mean wind and gravity wave climatologies

Cited by 56 publications

References 48 publications

Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere – Part 1: Mean winds

Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere – Part 1: Mean winds

The climatology of zonal wave numbers 1 and 2 planetary wave structure in the MLT using a chain of Northern Hemisphere SuperDARN radars

Gravity wave variations in the polar stratosphere and mesosphere from SOFIE/AIM temperature observations

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