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- ItemPropagation of short-period gravity waves at high-latitudes during the MaCWAVE winter campaign(München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2006) Nielsen, K.; Taylor, M.J.; Pautet, P.-D.; Fritts, D.C.; Mitchell, N.; Beldon, C.; Williams, B.P.; Singer, W.; Schmidlin, F.J.; Goldberg, R.A.As part of the MaCWAVE (Mountain and Convective Waves Ascending Vertically) winter campaign an all-sky monochromatic CCD imager has been used to investigate the properties of short-period mesospheric gravity waves at high northern latitudes. Sequential measurements of several nightglow emissions were made from Esrange, Sweden, during a limited period from 27–31 January 2003. Coincident wind measurements over the altitude range (~80–100 km) using two meteor radar systems located at Esrange and Andenes have been used to perform a novel investigation of the intrinsic properties of five distinct wave events observed during this period. Additional lidar and MSIS model temperature data have been used to investigate their nature (i.e. freely propagating or ducted). Four of these extensive wave events were found to be freely propagating with potential source regions to the north of Scandinavia. No evidence was found for strong orographic forcing by short-period waves in the airglow emission layers. The fifth event was most unusual exhibiting an extensive, but much smaller and variable wavelength pattern that appeared to be embedded in the background wind field. Coincident wind measurements indicated the presence of a strong shear suggesting this event was probably due to a large-scale Kelvin-Helmholtz instability.
- ItemFive-day planetary waves in the middle atmosphere from Odin satellite data and ground-based instruments in Northern Hemisphere summer 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007(München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2008) Belova, A.; Kirkwood, S.; Murtagh, D.; Mitchell, N.; Singer, W.; Hocking, W.A number of studies have shown that 5-day planetary waves modulate noctilucent clouds and the closely related Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE) at the summer mesopause. Summer stratospheric winds should inhibit wave propagation through the stratosphere and, although some numerical models (Geisler and Dickinson, 1976) do show a possibility for upward wave propagation, it has also been suggested that the upward propagation may in practice be confined to the winter hemisphere with horizontal propagation of the wave from the winter to the summer hemisphere at mesosphere heights causing the effects observed at the summer mesopause. It has further been proposed (Garcia et al., 2005) that 5-day planetary waves observed in the summer mesosphere could be excited in-situ by baroclinic instability in the upper mesosphere. In this study, we first extract and analyze 5-day planetary wave characteristics on a global scale in the middle atmosphere (up to 54 km in temperature, and up to 68 km in ozone concentration) using measurements by the Odin satellite for selected days during northern hemisphere summer from 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2007. Second, we show that 5-day temperature fluctuations consistent with westward-traveling 5-day waves are present at the summer mesopause, using local ground-based meteor-radar observations. Finally we examine whether any of three possible sources of the detected temperature fluctuations at the summer mesopause can be excluded: upward propagation from the stratosphere in the summer-hemisphere, horizontal propagation from the winter-hemisphere or in-situ excitation as a result of the baroclinic instability. We find that in one case, far from solstice, the baroclinic instability is unlikely to be involved. In one further case, close to solstice, upward propagation in the same hemisphere seems to be ruled out. In all other cases, all or any of the three proposed mechanisms are consistent with the observations.
- ItemMonthly mean climatology of the prevailing winds and tides in the Artic mesosphere/lower thermosphere(München : European Geopyhsical Union, 2004) Portnyagin, Y.I.; Solovjova, T.V.; Makarov, N.A.; Merzlyakov, E.G.; Manson, A.H.; Meek, C.E.; Hocking, W.; Mitchell, N.; Pancheva, D.; Hoffmann, P.; Singer, W.; Murayama, Y.; Igarashi, K.; Forbes, J.M.; Palo, S.; Hall, C.; Nozawa, S.The Arctic MLT wind regime parameters measured at the ground-based network of MF and meteor radar stations (Andenes 69° N, Tromsø 70° N, Esrange 68° N, Dixon 73.5° N, Poker Flat 65° N and Resolute Bay 75° N) are discussed and compared with those observed in the mid-latitudes. The network of the ground-based MF and meteor radars for measuring winds in the Arctic upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere provides an excellent opportunity for study of the main global dynamical structures in this height region and their dependence from longitude. Preliminary estimates of the differences between the measured winds and tides from the different radar types, situated 125-273km apart (Tromsø, Andenes and Esrange), are provided. Despite some differences arising from using different types of radars it is possible to study the dynamical wind structures. It is revealed that most of the observed dynamical structures are persistent from year to year, thus permitting the analysis of the Arctic MLT dynamics in a climatological sense. The seasonal behaviour of the zonally averaged wind parameters is, to some extent, similar to that observed at the moderate latitudes. However, the strength of the winds (except the prevailing meridional wind and the diurnal tide amplitudes) in the Arctic MLT region is, in general, less than that detected at the moderate latitudes, decreasing toward the pole. There are also some features in the vertical structure and seasonal variations of the Arctic MLT winds which are different from the expectations of the well-known empirical wind models CIRA-86 and HWM-93. The tidal phases show a very definite longitudinal dependence that permits the determination of the corresponding zonal wave numbers. It is shown that the migrating tides play an important role in the dynamics of the Arctic MLT region. However, there are clear indications with the presence in some months of non-migrating tidal modes of significant appreciable amplitude.