Intra-seasonal Oscillations (ISO) of zonal-mean meridional winds and temperatures as measured by UARS

Abstract

Based on an empirical analysis of measurements with the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) on the UARS spacecraft in the upper mesosphere (95km), persistent and regular intra-seasonal oscillations (ISO) with periods of about 2 to 4 months have recently been reported in the zonal-mean meridional winds. Similar oscillations have also been discussed independently in a modeling study, and they were attributed to wave-mean-flow interactions. The observed and modeled meridional wind ISOs were largely confined to low latitudes. We report here on an analysis of concurrent UARS temperature measurements, which produces oscillations similar to those seen in the meridional winds. Although the temperature oscillations are observed at lower altitudes (55km), their phase variations with latitude are qualitatively consistent with the inferred properties seen in the meridional winds and thus provide independent evidence for the existence of ISOs in the mesosphere.