Tidal winds from the mesosphere, lower thermosphere global radar network during the second LTCS campaign: December 1988

Journal Article · Fri Feb 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/90JA01755· OSTI ID:5190479

Manson, A H; Meek, C E ^[1]; Avery, S K ^[2]; Fraser, G J ^[3]; Vincent, R A; Phillips, A ^[4]; Clark, R R ^[5]; Schminder, R; Kurschner, D ^[6]; Kazimirovsky, E S ^[7]

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1. Univ. of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon (Canada)
2. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder (USA)
3. Univ. of Canterbury, Christchurch (New Zealand)
4. Univ. of Adelaide (Australia)
5. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham (USA)
6. Karl Marx Univ., Collm (West Germany)
7. Siberian Inst. of Terrestrial Magnetism, Ionosphere and Radio Propagation, Irkutsk (USSR)

Winds and tides were measured by nine MLT (mesophere, lower thermosphere) radars with locations between 70{degree}N and 78{degree}S, including an equatorial station at Christmas Island, 2{degree}N (Avery et al., 1990). The mean winds were eastward (westward) in the northern (southern) hemisphere mesophere, consistent with midwinter circulations. For the 12-hour (semidiurnal) tide, observations and the model of Forbes and Vial (1989) were in generally good agreement: in both cases northward components were closer to being in phase in the two hemispheres, and winter wavelengths were shorter than those of the midlatitude summer. Major differences were large (small) amplitudes at 70{degree}N for model(observations); and poor agreement of equatorial tidal profiles. For the 24-hour (diurnal tide), the radar observations and model of Forbes and Hagan (1988) were in useful agreement in the summer hemisphere. However, the short (long) wavelengths at mid (high) latitudes of the model's winter hemisphere were not observed during LTCS (lower Thermosphere Coupling Study) 2, nor in climatologies for December. Suggestions as to the reason for this disparity are presented.

• OSTI ID: 5190479
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 96:A2; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640200* -- Atmospheric Physics
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AMPLITUDES
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EVALUATION
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
MESOSPHERE
RADAR
RANGE FINDERS
THERMOSPHERE
TIDE
WIND