Influence of stratosphere polar vortex variability on the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere

The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere-ionosphere eXtension (WACCM-X) is used to investigate the influence of stratosphere polar vortex variability on the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere during Northern Hemisphere winter. Based on 40 simulated Northern Hemisphere winters, the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) residual circulation is found to depend on whether the stratosphere polar vortex is strong or weak. In particular, during weak stratosphere polar vortex time periods, the MLT circulation anomalies are characterized by clockwise and anti-clockwise flow in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres, respectively. Opposite, though weaker, anomalies are found to occur during time periods when the stratosphere polar vortex is strong. The MLT circulation anomalies influence the composition of the lower thermosphere, leading to +/- 5% changes in the thermosphere column integrated atomic oxygen to molecular nitrogen ratio (SO/N-2). Large differences between strong and weak stratosphere polar vortex events are also found to occur in the semidiurnal migrating tide (SW2) in the MLT, which leads to +/- 15%-20% differences in the SW2 component of the ionosphere total electron content (TEC) at low latitudes. The WACCM-X simulation results indicate that variability in the stratosphere polar vortex can explain similar to 30% and similar to 18% of the quiet time variability in thermosphere SO/N-2 and the SW2 component of TEC during Northern Hemisphere winter, respectively.

To Access Resource:

Questions? Email Resource Support Contact:

  • opensky@ucar.edu
    UCAR/NCAR - Library

Resource Type publication
Temporal Range Begin N/A
Temporal Range End N/A
Temporal Resolution N/A
Bounding Box North Lat N/A
Bounding Box South Lat N/A
Bounding Box West Long N/A
Bounding Box East Long N/A
Spatial Representation N/A
Spatial Resolution N/A
Related Links

Related Dataset #1 : WACCM-X Northern Hemisphere Winter Ensemble

Related Software #1 : CESM-release-cesm2.1.1

Additional Information N/A
Resource Format PDF
Standardized Resource Format PDF
Asset Size N/A
Legal Constraints

Copyright 2023 American Geophysical Union (AGU).


Access Constraints None
Software Implementation Language N/A

Resource Support Name N/A
Resource Support Email opensky@ucar.edu
Resource Support Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library
Distributor N/A
Metadata Contact Name N/A
Metadata Contact Email opensky@ucar.edu
Metadata Contact Organization UCAR/NCAR - Library

Author Pedatella, Nicholas M.
Publisher UCAR/NCAR - Library
Publication Date 2023-07-01T00:00:00
Digital Object Identifier (DOI) Not Assigned
Alternate Identifier N/A
Resource Version N/A
Topic Category geoscientificInformation
Progress N/A
Metadata Date 2025-07-11T15:16:47.431953
Metadata Record Identifier edu.ucar.opensky::articles:26498
Metadata Language eng; USA
Suggested Citation Pedatella, Nicholas M.. (2023). Influence of stratosphere polar vortex variability on the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere. UCAR/NCAR - Library. https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d78k7f3v. Accessed 01 August 2025.

Harvest Source