Longitudinal variation of tides in the MLT region: 2. Relative effects of solar radiative and latent heating

Part 2 of our study examines the relative importance of radiative heating and latent heating in accounting for vertically propagating tides that impose longitude variability on mesosphere‐lower thermosphere (MLT) winds, temperatures, and densities. Our results are based upon numerical simulations us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics 2010-06, Vol.115 (A6), p.n/a
Main Authors: Zhang, Xiaoli, Forbes, Jeffrey M., Hagan, Maura E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atmospheric sciences
Climatology
Clouds
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
GSWM MLT tides
Heating
Longitude
longitudinal variation
Radiation
Temperature measurement
Tidal oscillations
Tides
TRMM latent heating
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Summary:Part 2 of our study examines the relative importance of radiative heating and latent heating in accounting for vertically propagating tides that impose longitude variability on mesosphere‐lower thermosphere (MLT) winds, temperatures, and densities. Our results are based upon numerical simulations using the Global‐Scale Wave Model (GSWM) and new tidal heating rates derived from International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) radiative fluxes (see part 1), Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) latent heating profiles, and TRMM rainfall rates. Contrary to previous results and general perceptions, we demonstrate that radiative heating is more important than latent heating in accounting for MLT longitude variability due to tides although latent heating causes some large nonmigrating tidal oscillations such as DE3. Through comparison with TIMED SABER temperature measurements, the model results are shown to approximate many observed features of this longitude variability.
ISSN:0148-0227
2169-9380
2156-2202
2169-9402
DOI:10.1029/2009JA014898