Waves with period near 3 days in the equatorial mesosphere and lower thermosphere over Ascension Island

A meteor radar was deployed on Ascension Island (8°S, 14°W) in the equatorial mid-Atlantic in 2001. Routine operation started in October of that year. The radar has been used to measure horizontal winds in the equatorial mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region over the interval October 2001–Octob...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 2006-01, Vol.68 (3), p.369-378
Main Authors: Younger, P.T., Mitchell, N.J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dynamics
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Kelvin waves
MLT region
Physics of the high neutral atmosphere
Physics of the ionosphere
Physics of the magnetosphere
Planetary waves
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Summary:A meteor radar was deployed on Ascension Island (8°S, 14°W) in the equatorial mid-Atlantic in 2001. Routine operation started in October of that year. The radar has been used to measure horizontal winds in the equatorial mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region over the interval October 2001–October 2002. Here, we present results concerning atmospheric waves with periods between ∼2 and 4 days—a period range which includes 3-day, planetary-scale, ultra-fast Kelvin waves. The observations reveal that in this period range, the wave field is highly variable and, although it displays clear signatures of ultra-fast Kelvin waves, such waves are intermittent and make a relatively minor contribution to the total wave activity at periods near 3 days during this year.
ISSN:1364-6826
1879-1824
DOI:10.1016/j.jastp.2005.05.008