Mid-Latitude Mesospheric Zonal Wave 1 and Wave 2 in Recent Boreal Winters

Abstract

Planetary waves in the mesosphere are studied using observational data and models to establish their origin, as there are indications of their generation independently of waves in the stratosphere. The quantitative relationships between zonal wave 1 and wave 2 were studied with a focus on the mid-latitude mesosphere at 50°N latitude. Aura Microwave Limb Sounder measurements were used to estimate wave amplitudes in geopotential height during sudden stratospheric warmings in recent boreal winters. The moving correlation between the wave amplitudes shows that, in comparison with the anticorrelation in the stratosphere, wave 2 positively correlates with wave 1 and propagates ahead of it in the mesosphere. A positive correlation r = 0.5–0.6, statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, is observed at 1–5-day time lag and in the 75–91 km altitude range, which is the upper mesosphere–mesopause region. Wavelet analysis shows a clear 8-day period in waves 1 and 2 in the mesosphere at 0.01 hPa (80 km), while in the stratosphere–lower mesosphere, the period is twice as long at 16 days; this is statistically significant only in wave 2. Possible sources of mesospheric planetary waves associated with zonal flow instabilities and breaking or dissipation of gravity waves are discussed.

Keywords

• zonal planetary wave
• polar vortex
• mesosphere
• stratosphere
• major sudden stratospheric warming