The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere
Recent observations of the polar mesosphere have revealed that waves with periods near two days reach significant amplitudes in both summer and winter. This is in striking contrast to mid-latitude observations where two-day waves maximise in summer only. Here, we use data from a meteor radar at Esra...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:65729dbe084d412685c85727bbe4c528 2023-05-15T15:10:13+02:00 The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere D. J. Sandford M. J. Schwartz N. J. Mitchell 2008-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doaj.org/article/65729dbe084d412685c85727bbe4c528 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/749/2008/acp-8-749-2008.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/65729dbe084d412685c85727bbe4c528 Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 8, Iss 3, Pp 749-755 (2008) Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 article 2008 ftdoajarticles 2022-12-31T08:45:43Z Recent observations of the polar mesosphere have revealed that waves with periods near two days reach significant amplitudes in both summer and winter. This is in striking contrast to mid-latitude observations where two-day waves maximise in summer only. Here, we use data from a meteor radar at Esrange (68° N, 21° E) in the Arctic and data from the MLS instrument aboard the EOS Aura satellite to investigate the wintertime polar two-day wave in the stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The radar data reveal that mesospheric two-day wave activity measured by horizontal-wind variance has a semi-annual cycle with maxima in winter and summer and equinoctial minima. The MLS data reveal that the summertime wave in the mesosphere is dominated by a westward-travelling zonal wavenumber three wave with significant westward wavenumber four present. It reaches largest amplitudes at mid-latitudes in the southern hemisphere. In the winter polar mesosphere, however, the wave appears to be an eastward-travelling zonal wavenumber two, which is not seen during the summer. At the latitude of Esrange, the eastward-two wave reaches maximum amplitudes near the stratopause and appears related to similar waves previously observed in the polar stratosphere. We conclude that the wintertime polar two-day wave is the mesospheric manifestation of an eastward-propagating, zonal-wavenumber-two wave originating in the stratosphere, maximising at the stratopause and likely to be generated by instabilities in the polar night jet. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic polar night Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Esrange ENVELOPE(21.117,21.117,67.883,67.883) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
spellingShingle |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 D. J. Sandford M. J. Schwartz N. J. Mitchell The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
topic_facet |
Physics QC1-999 Chemistry QD1-999 |
description |
Recent observations of the polar mesosphere have revealed that waves with periods near two days reach significant amplitudes in both summer and winter. This is in striking contrast to mid-latitude observations where two-day waves maximise in summer only. Here, we use data from a meteor radar at Esrange (68° N, 21° E) in the Arctic and data from the MLS instrument aboard the EOS Aura satellite to investigate the wintertime polar two-day wave in the stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The radar data reveal that mesospheric two-day wave activity measured by horizontal-wind variance has a semi-annual cycle with maxima in winter and summer and equinoctial minima. The MLS data reveal that the summertime wave in the mesosphere is dominated by a westward-travelling zonal wavenumber three wave with significant westward wavenumber four present. It reaches largest amplitudes at mid-latitudes in the southern hemisphere. In the winter polar mesosphere, however, the wave appears to be an eastward-travelling zonal wavenumber two, which is not seen during the summer. At the latitude of Esrange, the eastward-two wave reaches maximum amplitudes near the stratopause and appears related to similar waves previously observed in the polar stratosphere. We conclude that the wintertime polar two-day wave is the mesospheric manifestation of an eastward-propagating, zonal-wavenumber-two wave originating in the stratosphere, maximising at the stratopause and likely to be generated by instabilities in the polar night jet. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
D. J. Sandford M. J. Schwartz N. J. Mitchell |
author_facet |
D. J. Sandford M. J. Schwartz N. J. Mitchell |
author_sort |
D. J. Sandford |
title |
The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
title_short |
The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
title_full |
The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
title_fullStr |
The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
title_full_unstemmed |
The wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
title_sort |
wintertime two-day wave in the polar stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doaj.org/article/65729dbe084d412685c85727bbe4c528 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(21.117,21.117,67.883,67.883) |
geographic |
Arctic Esrange |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Esrange |
genre |
Arctic polar night |
genre_facet |
Arctic polar night |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Vol 8, Iss 3, Pp 749-755 (2008) |
op_relation |
http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/8/749/2008/acp-8-749-2008.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7316 https://doaj.org/toc/1680-7324 1680-7316 1680-7324 https://doaj.org/article/65729dbe084d412685c85727bbe4c528 |
_version_ |
1766341250267480064 |