Quasi-16-day period oscillations observed in middle atmospheric ozone and temperature in Antarctica

Nightly averaged mesospheric temperature derived from the hydroxyl nightglow at Rothera station (67°34' S, 68°08' W) and nightly midnight measurements of ozone mixing ratio obtained from Troll station (72°01' S, 2°32' E) in Antarctica have been used to investigate the presence an...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annales Geophysicae
Main Authors: T. D. Demissie, N. H. Kleinknecht, R. E. Hibbins, P. J. Espy, C. Straub
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Copernicus Publications 2013
Subjects:
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-31-1279-2013
https://doaj.org/article/2c6f2d89db6840048f4fb52158cf9f45
Description
Summary:Nightly averaged mesospheric temperature derived from the hydroxyl nightglow at Rothera station (67°34' S, 68°08' W) and nightly midnight measurements of ozone mixing ratio obtained from Troll station (72°01' S, 2°32' E) in Antarctica have been used to investigate the presence and vertical profile of the quasi-16-day planetary wave in the stratosphere and mesosphere during the Antarctic winter of 2009. The variations caused by planetary waves on the ozone mixing ratio and temperature are discussed, and spectral and cross-correlation analyses are performed to extract the wave amplitudes and to examine the vertical structure of the wave from 34 to 80 km. The results show that while planetary-wave signatures with periods 3–12 days are strong below the stratopause, the oscillations associated with the 16-day wave are the strongest and present in both the mesosphere and stratosphere. The period of the wave is found to increase below 42 km due to the Doppler shifting by the strong eastward zonal wind. The 16-day oscillation in the temperature is found to be correlated and phase coherent with the corresponding oscillation observed in O 3 volume mixing ratio at all levels, and the wave is found to have vertical phase fronts consistent with a normal mode structure.