Publication Date:
2013-01-20
Description:
[1] Seasonal and inter-annual variations of the Quasi-Two-Day wave (QTDW) s = -3 (W3) and s = -4 (W4) modes were studied with global temperature and wind datasets during 2002–2012, observed respectively by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) and TIMED Doppler Imager (TIDI) instruments onboard the Thermosphere Ionosphere and Mesosphere Electric Dynamics (TIMED) satellite. The amplitudes of W3 and W4 are significantly enhanced during austral and boreal summer respectively. Strong W3 amplitudes are observed during January 2006 in all three components of temperature, meridional, and zonal winds. This is most likely related to the intensive winter planetary wave activity that led to a strong sudden stratosphere warming (SSW) event. The maximum amplitudes of W4 during the 10 years are ~8–9 K, ~40 m/s, and ~20 m/s for temperature, meridional, and zonal components respectively, nearly half as large as that of W3, with ~15 K, ~65 m/s, and ~35 m/s. In January 2008 and 2009, unusually weak W3 but strong W4 oscillations were observed, corresponding to the much weaker summer easterly jets (westward wind) than those in other years. This suggests that relatively weak summer easterly may not be able to provide sufficiently strong barotropic/baroclinic instability to amplify W3 but is favorable for the amplification of W4. The weaker magnitude values, lower peak heights, and the longer life intervals of W4 than those of W3 suggest that the W4 may suffer a greater damping rate than the W3. The observations of W4 show good agreement with Rossby-gravity (4, 0) mode, which is more easily trapped in both latitude and altitude because of its lower group velocity than that of Rossby-gravity (3, 0) mode.
Print ISSN:
0148-0227
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Permalink