Observations of the 6.5-day wave in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere

Previous observations of atmospheric oscillations with zonal wave number 1 have consistently located waves of periods between 5 and 7 days. This study presents a global and seasonal analysis of the 6.5‐day wave in High Resolution Doppler Imager daytime mesosphere and lower thermosphere horizontal wi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research 2001-09, Vol.106 (D18), p.20715-20723
Main Authors: Talaat, E. R., Yee, J.‐H., Zhu, Xun
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Physics of the high neutral atmosphere
Tides, waves, convection, winds, turbulence
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Previous observations of atmospheric oscillations with zonal wave number 1 have consistently located waves of periods between 5 and 7 days. This study presents a global and seasonal analysis of the 6.5‐day wave in High Resolution Doppler Imager daytime mesosphere and lower thermosphere horizontal winds, temperatures, and nighttime atomic oxygen at 95 km. The horizontal structures of all these atmospheric variables are similar to the gravest symmetric wave number 1 Rossby wave, i.e., the (1,1) mode. The seasonal and spatial analysis displays possible modification by the zonal mean wind. Finally, the observed vertical structures of the 6.5‐day wave indicate that it is an internal Rossby wave, not an external or Lamb wave.
ISSN:0148-0227
2156-2202
DOI:10.1029/2001JD900227