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Dependence of Lunar Tide of the Equatorial Electrojet on the Wintertime Polar Vortex, Solar Flux, and QBO
Author(s) -
Siddiqui T. A.,
Yamazaki Y.,
Stolle C.,
Lühr H.,
Matzka J.,
Maute A.,
Pedatella N.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2018gl077510
Subject(s) - polar vortex , ionosphere , stratosphere , equatorial electrojet , atmospheric sciences , electrojet , polar , flux (metallurgy) , forcing (mathematics) , geology , geophysics , environmental science , climatology , physics , astronomy , earth's magnetic field , materials science , quantum mechanics , magnetic field , metallurgy
The lower atmospheric forcing effects on the ionosphere are particularly evident during extreme meteorological events known as sudden stratospheric warmings (SSWs). During SSWs, the polar stratosphere and ionosphere, two distant atmospheric regions, are coupled through the SSW‐induced modulation of atmospheric migrating and nonmigrating tides. The changes in the migrating semidiurnal solar and lunar tides are the major source of ionospheric variabilities during SSWs. In this study, we use 55 years of ground‐magnetometer observations to investigate the composite characteristics of the lunar tide of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) during SSWs. These long‐term observations allow us to capture the EEJ lunar tidal response to the SSWs in a statistical sense. Further, we examine the influence of solar flux conditions and the phases of quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) on the lunar tide and find that the QBO phases and solar flux conditions modulate the EEJ lunar tidal response during SSWs in a similar way as they modulate the wintertime Arctic polar vortex. This work provides first evidence of modulation of the EEJ lunar tide due to QBO.