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Comparison of observed diurnal and semidiurnal tropospheric winds at Christmas Island with tidal theory
Author(s) -
Williams Christopher R.,
Avery Susan K.,
McAfee John R.,
Gage Kenneth S.
Publication year - 1992
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 - 10.1029/92gl01276
Subject(s) - troposphere , atmospheric tide , geology , prevailing winds , atmospheric sciences , climatology , oceanography , geophysics , thermosphere , ionosphere
Four years of hourly averaged atmospheric wind measurements from the Christmas Island VHF wind profiler were processed into typical days to show the vertical phase structure of the diurnal and semidiurnal tropospheric zonal winds. The winds from the lowest resolvable height were compared with both the surface winds calculated from a three year record of surface pressure using the equations of motion on a rotating, frictionless sphere, and the winds from a tidal model. It is concluded that at the lowest height, the observed diurnal and semidiurnal zonal winds have tidal (1,1) and (2,2) mode structures, respectively. Further analysis is necessary to evaluate the tidal mode(s) of the zonal wind throughout the troposphere.