Open AccessObservations of the 6.5‐day wave in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere
Author(s) -
Talaat E. R.,
Yee J.H.,
Zhu Xun
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2001jd900227
Subject(s) - thermosphere , rossby wave , mesosphere , atmospheric sciences , atmospheric tide , daytime , wavenumber , ionosphere , physics , geology , environmental science , geophysics , stratosphere , optics
Previous observations of atmospheric oscillations with zonal wave number 1 have consistently located waves of periods between 5 and 7 days. This study presents a global and seasonal analysis of the 6.5‐day wave in High Resolution Doppler Imager daytime mesosphere and lower thermosphere horizontal winds, temperatures, and nighttime atomic oxygen at 95 km. The horizontal structures of all these atmospheric variables are similar to the gravest symmetric wave number 1 Rossby wave, i.e., the (1,1) mode. The seasonal and spatial analysis displays possible modification by the zonal mean wind. Finally, the observed vertical structures of the 6.5‐day wave indicate that it is an internal Rossby wave, not an external or Lamb wave.