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Low‐latitude gravity wave variances in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere derived from SABER temperature observation and compared with model simulation of waves generated by deep tropical convection
Author(s) -
Walterscheid R. L.,
Christensen A. B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-8996
pISSN - 2169-897X
DOI - 10.1002/2016jd024843
Subject(s) - thermosphere , gravity wave , mesosphere , convection , atmospheric sciences , geology , amplitude , latitude , altitude (triangle) , geophysics , ionosphere , climatology , physics , gravitational wave , meteorology , geodesy , stratosphere , astrophysics , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
A portion of waves generated by deep convection have scales and amplitudes large enough to be detected by spaceborne instruments. We have analyzed temperature data from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics Dynamics (TIMED) satellite for subtidal‐scale fluctuations. Filtering was applied both vertically and horizontally to extract wave variances. We have analyzed the altitude region between 70 and 130 km and focus on the variances at equatorial latitudes for the altitude region between 70 and 120 km as a function of season, local time intervals, geographical location, and altitude. We find significant variances where convection is particularly prolific (Intertropical Convergence Zone) and at altitudes where wave trapping is known to be favored (e.g., the lower thermospheric duct). The locations of significant variances persist from year to year. Standard deviations of a few tens of kelvins are found. We have also performed simulations of the response to deep tropical convection with a time‐dependent, high‐resolution fully compressible dynamical model. Our simulations give wave amplitudes that agree reasonably well with the observed amplitudes and show layering that is consistent with the observations. Our main finding is that significant variations seen in TIMED/SABER temperature data have a convective wave source and are concentrated in layers where thermal ducts occur.