Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • Item
    Middle- and High-Latitude Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Mean Winds and Tides in Response to Strong Polar-Night Jet Oscillations
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2019) Conte, J. Federico; Chau, Jorge L.; Peters, Dieter H.W.
    The dynamical behavior of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region during strongly disturbed wintertime conditions commonly known as polar-night jet oscillations (PJOs) is described in detail and compared to other wintertime conditions. For this purpose, wind measurements provided by two specular meteor radars located at Andenes (69°N, 16°E) and Juliusruh (54°N, 13°E) are used to estimate horizontal mean winds and tides as an observational basis. Winds and tidal main features are analyzed and compared for three different cases: major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) with (a) strong PJO event, (b) non-PJO event, and (c) no major SSWs. We show that the distinction into strong PJOs, non-PJOs, and winters with no major SSWs is better suited to identify differences in the behavior of the mean winds and tides during the boreal winter. To assess the impact of the stratospheric disturbed conditions on the MLT region, we investigate the 30-year nudged simulation by the Extended Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model. Analysis of geopotential height disturbances suggests that changes in the location of the polar vortex at mesospheric heights are responsible for the jets observed in the MLT mean winds during strong PJOs, which in turn influence the evolution of semidiurnal tides by increasing or decreasing their amplitudes depending on the tidal component. © 2019. The Authors.
  • Item
    Quasi‐2‐Day Wave in Low‐Latitude Atmospheric Winds as Viewed From the Ground and Space During January–March, 2020
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2021) He, Maosheng; Chau, Jorge L.; Forbes, Jeffrey M.; Zhang, Xiaoli; Englert, Christoph R.; Harding, Brian J.; Immel, Thomas J.; Lima, Lourivaldo M.; Bhaskar Rao, S. Vijaya; Ratnam, M. Venkat; Li, Guozhu; Harlander, John M.; Marr, Kenneth D.; Makela, Jonathan J.
    Horizontal winds from four low-latitude (±15°) specular meteor radars (SMRs) and the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument on the ICON satellite, are combined to investigate quasi-2-day waves (Q2DWs) in early 2020. SMRs cover 80–100 km altitude whereas MIGHTI covers 95–300 km. Q2DWs are the largest dynamical feature of the summertime middle atmosphere. At the overlapping altitudes, comparisons between the derived Q2DWs exhibit excellent agreement. The SMR sensor array analyses show that the dominant zonal wavenumbers are s = +2 and + 3, and help resolve ambiguities in MIGHTI results. We present the first Q2DW depiction for s = +2 and s = +3 between 95 and 200 km, and show that their amplitudes are almost invariant between 80 and 100 km. Above 106 km, Q2DW amplitudes and phases present structures that might result from the superposition of Q2DWs and their aliased secondary waves.
  • Item
    High-Order Solar Migrating Tides Quench at SSW Onsets
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2020) He, Maosheng; Forbes, Jeffrey M.; Chau, Jorge L.; Li, Guozhu; Wan, Weixing; Korotyshkin, Dmitry V.
    Sudden stratospheric warming events (SSWs) are the most spectacular atmospheric vertical coupling processes, well-known for being associated with diverse wave activities in the upper atmosphere and ionosphere. The first four solar tidal harmonics have been reported as being engaged. Here, combining mesospheric winds detected by three midlatitude radars, we demonstrate at least the first six harmonics that occurred during SSW 2018. Wave number diagnosis demonstrates that all six harmonics are dominated by migrating components. Wavelet analyses reveal that the fourth, fifth, and sixth harmonics quench after the SSW onset. The six harmonics and the quenching appear also in a statistical analysis based on near-12-year observations from one of the radars. We attribute the quenching to reversal of the background eastward wind. ©2020. The Authors.
  • Item
    Quasi‐10‐Day Wave and Semidiurnal Tide Nonlinear Interactions During the Southern Hemispheric SSW 2019 Observed in the Northern Hemispheric Mesosphere
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2020) He, Maosheng; Chau, Jorge L.; Forbes, Jeffrey M.; Thorsen, Denise; Li, Guozhu; Siddiqui, Tarique Adnan; Yamazaki, Yosuke; Hocking, Wayne K.
    Mesospheric winds from three longitudinal sectors at 65°N and 54°N latitude are combined to diagnose the zonal wave numbers (m) of spectral wave signatures during the Southern Hemisphere sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) 2019. Diagnosed are quasi-10- and 6-day planetary waves (Q10DW and Q6DW, m = 1), solar semidiurnal tides with m = 1, 2, 3 (SW1, SW2, and SW3), lunar semidiurnal tide, and the upper and lower sidebands (USB and LSB, m = 1 and 3) of Q10DW-SW2 nonlinear interactions. We further present 7-year composite analyses to distinguish SSW effects from climatological features. Before (after) the SSW onset, LSB (USB) enhances, accompanied by the enhancing (fading) Q10DW, and a weakening of climatological SW2 maximum. These behaviors are explained in terms of Manley-Rowe relation, that is, the energy goes first from SW2 to Q10DW and LSB, and then from SW2 and Q10DW to USB. Our results illustrate that the interactions can explain most wind variabilities associated with the SSW. © 2020. The Authors.
  • Item
    Determination of the Azimuthal Extent of Coherent E‐Region Scatter Using the ICEBEAR Linear Receiver Array
    (Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2021) Huyghebaert, Devin; McWilliams, Kathryn; Hussey, Glenn; Galeschuk, Draven; Chau, Jorge L.; Vierinen, Juha
    The Ionospheric Continuous-wave E-region Bistatic Experimental Auroral Radar (ICEBEAR) is a VHF coherent scatter radar that operates with a field-of-view centered on 58°N, 106°W and measures characteristics of ionospheric E-region plasma density irregularities. The initial operations of ICEBEAR utilized a wavelength-spaced linear receiving array to determine the angle of arrival of the ionospheric scatter at the receiver site. Initially only the shortest baselines were used to determine the angle of arrival of the scatter. This publication uses this linear antenna array configuration and expands on the initial angle of arrival determination by including all the cross-spectra available from the antenna array to determine both the azimuthal angle of arrival and the azimuthal extent of the incoming ionospheric scatter. This is accomplished by fitting Gaussian distributions to the complex coherence of the signal between different antennas and deriving the azimuthal angle and extent based on the best fit. Fourteen hours of data during an active ionospheric period (March 10, 2018, 0–14 UT) were analyzed to investigate the Gaussian fitting procedure and determine its feasibility for implementation with ICEBEAR. A comparison between mapped scatter, both neglecting azimuthal extent and including azimuthal extent is presented. It demonstrates that the azimuthal extent of the ionospheric E-region scatter is very important for accurately portraying and analyzing the ICEBEAR measurements.