On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016
The midwinter 2015/2016 was characterized by an unusually strong polar night jet (PNJ) and extraordinarily large stationary planetary wave (SPW) amplitudes in the subtropical mesosphere. The aim of this study is, therefore, to find the origin of these mesospheric SPWs in the midwinter 2015/2016 stud...
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ftleibnizopen:oai:oai.leibnizopen.de:BxN2DYsBBwLIz6xG0O02 2023-11-05T03:40:09+01:00 On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 Matthias, Vivien Ern, Manfred 2018 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.34657/1163 https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/611 eng eng München : European Geopyhsical Union CC BY 4.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Volume 18, Issue 7, Page 4803-4815 Jet stream mesosphere planetary wave quasi-biennial oscillation standing wave winter 550 article Text 2018 ftleibnizopen https://doi.org/10.34657/1163 2023-10-08T23:27:11Z The midwinter 2015/2016 was characterized by an unusually strong polar night jet (PNJ) and extraordinarily large stationary planetary wave (SPW) amplitudes in the subtropical mesosphere. The aim of this study is, therefore, to find the origin of these mesospheric SPWs in the midwinter 2015/2016 study period. The study duration is split into two periods: the first period runs from late December 2015 until early January 2016 (Period I), and the second period from early January until mid-January 2016 (Period II). While the SPW 1 dominates in the subtropical mesosphere in Period I, it is the SPW 2 that dominates in Period II. There are three possibilities explaining how SPWs can occur in the mesosphere: (1) they propagate upward from the stratosphere, (2) they are generated in situ by longitudinally variable gravity wave (GW) drag, or (3) they are generated in situ by barotropic and/or baroclinic instabilities. Using global satellite observations from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) the origin of the mesospheric SPWs is investigated for both time periods. We find that due to the strong PNJ the SPWs were not able to propagate upward into the mesosphere northward of 50°N but were deflected upward and equatorward into the subtropical mesosphere. We show that the SPWs observed in the subtropical mesosphere are the same SPWs as in the mid-latitudinal stratosphere. Simultaneously, we find evidence that the mesospheric SPWs in polar latitudes were generated in situ by longitudinally variable GW drag and that there is a mixture of in situ generation by longitudinally variable GW drag and by instabilities at mid-latitudes. Our results, based on observations, show that the abovementioned three mechanisms can act at the same time which confirms earlier model studies. Additionally, the possible contribution from, or impact of, unusually strong SPWs in the subtropical mesosphere to the disruption of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the same ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic polar night LeibnizOpen (The Leibniz Association) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
LeibnizOpen (The Leibniz Association) |
op_collection_id |
ftleibnizopen |
language |
English |
topic |
Jet stream mesosphere planetary wave quasi-biennial oscillation standing wave winter 550 |
spellingShingle |
Jet stream mesosphere planetary wave quasi-biennial oscillation standing wave winter 550 Matthias, Vivien Ern, Manfred On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 |
topic_facet |
Jet stream mesosphere planetary wave quasi-biennial oscillation standing wave winter 550 |
description |
The midwinter 2015/2016 was characterized by an unusually strong polar night jet (PNJ) and extraordinarily large stationary planetary wave (SPW) amplitudes in the subtropical mesosphere. The aim of this study is, therefore, to find the origin of these mesospheric SPWs in the midwinter 2015/2016 study period. The study duration is split into two periods: the first period runs from late December 2015 until early January 2016 (Period I), and the second period from early January until mid-January 2016 (Period II). While the SPW 1 dominates in the subtropical mesosphere in Period I, it is the SPW 2 that dominates in Period II. There are three possibilities explaining how SPWs can occur in the mesosphere: (1) they propagate upward from the stratosphere, (2) they are generated in situ by longitudinally variable gravity wave (GW) drag, or (3) they are generated in situ by barotropic and/or baroclinic instabilities. Using global satellite observations from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) the origin of the mesospheric SPWs is investigated for both time periods. We find that due to the strong PNJ the SPWs were not able to propagate upward into the mesosphere northward of 50°N but were deflected upward and equatorward into the subtropical mesosphere. We show that the SPWs observed in the subtropical mesosphere are the same SPWs as in the mid-latitudinal stratosphere. Simultaneously, we find evidence that the mesospheric SPWs in polar latitudes were generated in situ by longitudinally variable GW drag and that there is a mixture of in situ generation by longitudinally variable GW drag and by instabilities at mid-latitudes. Our results, based on observations, show that the abovementioned three mechanisms can act at the same time which confirms earlier model studies. Additionally, the possible contribution from, or impact of, unusually strong SPWs in the subtropical mesosphere to the disruption of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in the same ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Matthias, Vivien Ern, Manfred |
author_facet |
Matthias, Vivien Ern, Manfred |
author_sort |
Matthias, Vivien |
title |
On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 |
title_short |
On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 |
title_full |
On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 |
title_fullStr |
On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 |
title_full_unstemmed |
On the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual Arctic winter 2015/2016 |
title_sort |
on the origin of the mesospheric quasi-stationary planetary waves in the unusual arctic winter 2015/2016 |
publisher |
München : European Geopyhsical Union |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.34657/1163 https://oa.tib.eu/renate/handle/123456789/611 |
genre |
Arctic polar night |
genre_facet |
Arctic polar night |
op_source |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, Volume 18, Issue 7, Page 4803-4815 |
op_rights |
CC BY 4.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.34657/1163 |
_version_ |
1781696124793389056 |