Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds
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 (...
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2010
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Online Access: | http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/1/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/10273/2010/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf |
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:11977 2023-05-15T13:45:10+02:00 Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds Sandford, D.J. Beldon, C.L. Hibbins, Robert E. Mitchell, N.J. 2010 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/1/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/10273/2010/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf en eng Copernicus Publications https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/1/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf Sandford, D.J.; Beldon, C.L.; Hibbins, Robert E. orcid:0000-0002-6867-2255 Mitchell, N.J. 2010 Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 10 (21). 10273-10289. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-10273-2010 <https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-10273-2010> Atmospheric Sciences Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2010 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-10273-2010 2023-02-04T19:27:43Z 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. Comparisons of these observations with those of the URAP and HWM-07 empirical ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Arctic Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Antarctic Arctic Esrange ENVELOPE(21.117,21.117,67.883,67.883) Rothera ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) The Antarctic Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics 10 21 10273 10289 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
topic |
Atmospheric Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Atmospheric Sciences Sandford, D.J. Beldon, C.L. Hibbins, Robert E. Mitchell, N.J. Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds |
topic_facet |
Atmospheric Sciences |
description |
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. Comparisons of these observations with those of the URAP and HWM-07 empirical ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sandford, D.J. Beldon, C.L. Hibbins, Robert E. Mitchell, N.J. |
author_facet |
Sandford, D.J. Beldon, C.L. Hibbins, Robert E. Mitchell, N.J. |
author_sort |
Sandford, D.J. |
title |
Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds |
title_short |
Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds |
title_full |
Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds |
title_fullStr |
Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds |
title_full_unstemmed |
Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds |
title_sort |
dynamics of the antarctic and arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - part 1: mean winds |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/1/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf http://www.atmos-chem-phys.net/10/10273/2010/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(21.117,21.117,67.883,67.883) ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) |
geographic |
Antarctic Arctic Esrange Rothera The Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic Arctic Esrange Rothera The Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Arctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Arctic Arctic |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/11977/1/acp-10-10273-2010.pdf Sandford, D.J.; Beldon, C.L.; Hibbins, Robert E. orcid:0000-0002-6867-2255 Mitchell, N.J. 2010 Dynamics of the Antarctic and Arctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere - Part 1: Mean winds. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 10 (21). 10273-10289. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-10273-2010 <https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-10273-2010> |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-10-10273-2010 |
container_title |
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics |
container_volume |
10 |
container_issue |
21 |
container_start_page |
10273 |
op_container_end_page |
10289 |
_version_ |
1766214832822943744 |