Skip to main content

Volume 51 Supplement 7-8

Special Issue: Dynamics and Structure of the Mesopause Region (DYSMER)

  • Article
  • Published:

The gradient wind in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere

Abstract

HRDI zonally averaged daytime temperatures are used to compute the gradient wind in the 65–105 km range. Results are compared with independently measured HRDI zonal mean zonal winds. The gradient wind captures the essential features of the observed wind field in the summertime midlatitudes, including the stratospheric easterly (westward) jet and the reversal to westerly (eastward) winds in the lower thermosphere. The consistency between HRDI and gradient winds diminishes at tropical latitudes, due to substantial tidal contamination of daytime temperatures used to compute the gradient wind.

References

  • Abreu, V. J., A. Bucholtz, P. B. Hays, D. A. Ortland, W. R. Skinner, and J.-H. Yee, Absorption and emission line shapes in the O2 atmospheric bands: Theoretical model and limb viewing simulations, Appl. Opt., 28, 2128–2137, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews, D. G., J. R. Holton, and C. B. Leovy, Middle Atmosphere Dynamics, Academic Press, Orlando, FL, 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burrage, M. D., N. Arvin, W. R. Skinner, and P. B. Hays, Observations of the O2 atmospheric band nightglow by the High Resolution Doppler Imager, J. Geophys. Res., 99, 15,017–15,023, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burrage, M. D., M. E. Hagan, W. R. Skinner, D. L. Wu, and P. B. Hays, Long-term variability in the solar diurnal tide observed by HRDI and simulated by the GSWM, Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 2641–2644, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burrage, M. D., R. A. Vincent, H. G. Mayr, W. R. Skinner, N. F. Arnold, and P. B. Hays, Long term variability in the equatorial middle atmosphere zonal wind, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 12,847–12,854, 1996a.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burrage, M. D., W. R. Skinner, D. A. Gell, P. B. Hays, A. R. Marshall, D. A. Ortland, A. H. Manson, S. J. Franke, D. C. Fritts, P. Hoffman, C. McLandress, R. Niciejewski, F. J. Schmidlin, G. G. Shepherd, W. Singer, T. Tsuda, and R. A. Vincent, Validation of mesospheric and lower thermospheric winds from the high resolution Doppler imager, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 10,365–10,392, 1996b.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chapman, S. and R. S. Lindzen, Atmospheric Tides, Gordon and Breach, New York, 1970.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, E. R. and S. Chandra, Equatorial zonal wind in the middle atmosphere derived from geopotential height and temperature data, J. Atmos. Sci., 46, 860–866, 1989.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, E. R., S. Chandra, J. J. Barnett, and M. Corney, Zonal mean temperature, pressure, zonal wind and geopotential height as functions of latitude, Adv. Space Res., 10, 11–59, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fleming, E. R., S. Chandra, M. D. Burrage, W. R. Skinner, P. B. Hays, B. H. Solheim, and G. G. Shepherd, Climatological mean wind observations from the UARS high-resolution Doppler imager and wind imaging interferometer: Comparison with current reference models, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 10,455–10,473, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, J. M., Atmospheric tides 1. model description and results for the solar diurnal component, J. Geophys. Res., 87, 5222–5240, 1982.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forbes, J. M., M. Kilpatrick, D. Fritts, A. H. Manson, and R. A. Vincent, Zonal mean and tidal dynamics from space: An empirical examination of aliasing and sampling issues, Ann. Geophys., 15, 1158–1164, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, R. R. and R. T. Clancy, Seasonal variation in equatorial mesospheric temperatures observed by SME, J. Atmos. Sci., 47, 1666–1673, 1990.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garcia, R. R., T. J. Dunkerton, R. S. Lieberman, and R. A. Vincent, Climatology of the semiannual oscillation of the tropical middle atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 26,019–26,032, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays, P. B., V. J. Abreu, M. E. Dobbs, D. A. Gell, H. J. Grassl, and W. R. Skinner, The high-resolution Doppler imager on the upper atmosphere research satellite, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 10,713–10,723, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hays, P. B., D. Wu, M. D. Burrage, D. A. Gell, H. J. Grassl, R. S. Lieberman, A. R. Marshall, Y. T. Morton, D. A. Ortland, and W. R. Skinner, Observations of the diurnal tide from space, J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3077–3093, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hedin, A. E., E. L. Fleming, A. H. Manson, F. J. Schmidlin, S. K. Avery, R. R. Clark, S. J. Franke, G. J. Fraser, T. Tsuda, F. Vial, and R. A. Vincent, Empirical wind model for the upper, middle and lower atmosphere, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., 58, 1421–1447, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hitchman, M. H. and C. B. Leovy, Diurnal tide in the equatorial middle atmosphere as seen in LIMS temperatures, J. Atmos. Sci., 42, 557–561, 1985.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hitchman, M. H. and C. B. Leovy, Evolution of the zonal mean state in the equatorial middle atmosphere during October 1978–May 1979, J. Atmos. Sci., 43, 3159–3176, 1986.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huang, T. Y. W. and A. K. Smith, The mesospheric diabatic circulation and the parameterized thermal effect of gravity wave breaking on the circulation, J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 1093–1111, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khattatov, B. V., M. A. Geller, V. A. Yudin, P. B. Hays, and R. A. Vincent, Diurnal migrating tide as seen by HRDI/UARS. part 1: Monthly mean global meridional winds, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 4405–4422, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leblanc, T. and A. Hauchecorne, Recent observations of mesopause temperature inversions, J. Geophys. Res., 102, 19,471–19,482, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leovy, C. B., Simple models of thermally driven mesospheric circulations, J. Atmos. Sci., 21, 327–341, 1964.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, R. S., Nonmigrating diurnal tides in the equatorial middle atmosphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 1112–1123, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, R. S., Long-term variationofzonal mean winds and (1,1) driving in the equatorial lower thermosphere, J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phys., 59, 1483–1490, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, R. S., Intraseasonal variability of HRDI winds in the equatorial mesosphere and lower thermosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 11,221–11,228, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, R. S. and P. B. Hays, An estimate of the momentum deposition in the lower thermosphere by the observed diurnal tide, J. Atmos. Sci., 51, 3094–3105, 1994.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lieberman, R. S., M. D. Burrage, D. A. Gell, P. B. Hays, A. R. Marshall, D. A. Ortland, W. R. Skinner, and D. L. Wu, Zonal mean winds in the equatorial mesosphere and lower thermosphere observed by the High resolution Doppler Imager, Geophys. Res. Lett., 20, 2849–2852, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manson, A. H., C. E. Meek, E. Fleming, S. Chandra, R. A. Vincent, A. Phillips, S. K. Avery, G. J. Fraser, M. J. Smith, J. L. Fellous, and M. Massebeuf, Comparisons between satellite-derived gradient winds and radar-derived winds from the CIRA-86, J. Atmos. Sci., 48, 411–428, 1991.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McLandress, C., G. G. Shepherd, and B. H. Solheim, Satellite observations of thermospheric tides: Results from the wind imaging interferometer on UARS, J. Geophys. Res., 101, 4093–4114, 1996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morton, Y. T., R. S. Lieberman, P. B. Hays, D. A. Ortland, A. R. Marshall, D. Wu, W. R. Skinner, M. D. Burrage, D. A. Gell, and J. H. Yee, Global mesospheric tidal winds observed bythe High Resolution Doppler Imager on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, Geophys. Res. Lett., 20, 1263–1266, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ortland, D. A., P. B. Hays, W. R. Skinner, M. D. Burrage, A. R. Marshall, and D. A. Gell, A sequential estimation technique for recovering atmospheric data from orbiting satellites, in The Upper Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere: A Review of Experiment and Theory, volume 87 of Geophysical Monograph series, edited by R. Johnson and T. Killeen, pp. 329–337, American Geophysical Union, Washington, D.C., 1995.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Ortland, D. A., P. B. Hays, W. R. Skinner, and J. H. Yee, Remote sensing of mesospheric temperature and O2(1Σ) band volume emission rates with the high resolution Doppler imager, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 1821–1835, 1998.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Palo, S. E. and S. K. Avery, Mean winds and the semiannual oscillation in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere at Christmas Island, J. Geophys. Res., 98, 20,385–20,400, 1993.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Randel, W. J., The evaluation of winds from geopotential height data in the stratosphere, J. Atmos. Sci., 44, 3097–3120, 1987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schoeberl, M. R., D. F. Strobel, and J. P. Apruzese, A numerical model of gravity wave breaking and stress in the mesosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 88, 5249–5259, 1983.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • She, C. Y., J. R. Yu, D. A. Krueger, R. Roble, P. Keckhut, A. Hauchecorne, and M. L. Chanin, Vertical structure of the midlatitude temperature from stratosphere to mesosphere (30–105 km), Geophys. Res. Lett., 22, 377–380, 1995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • States, R. J. and C. S. Gardner, Influence of the diurnal tide and thermospheric heat sources on the formation of mesospheric temperature inversion layers, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1998 (to appear).

  • Wallace, J. M. and F. R. Hartranft, Diurnal wind variations, surface to 30 kilometers, Mon. Wea. Rev., 97, 446–455, 1969.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, J. M. and R. F. Tadd, Some further results concerning the vertical structure of atmospheric tidal motions within the lowest 30 kilometers, Mon. Wea. Rev., 102, 795–803, 1974.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yudin, V. A., B. V. Khattatov, M. A. Geller, D. A. Ortland, C. McLandress, and G. G. Shepherd, Thermal tides and studies to tune the mechanistic tidal model using UARS observations, Ann. Geophys., 15, 1205–1220, 1997.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ruth S. Lieberman.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Lieberman, R.S. The gradient wind in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Earth Planet Sp 51, 751–761 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353234

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03353234

Keywords