Identification

Title

Simulations of zonal mean gravity wave drag short-term variability in the Southern Hemisphere mesosphere

Abstract

Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model simulations are used to investigate the short-term (<30-day) temporal variability in the midlatitude and high-latitude Southern Hemisphere mesosphere. We focus primarily on the short-term variability in zonal mean gravity wave drag and its influence on the mesosphere circulation and chemistry. The seasonal climatology from 36 years (1979-2014) of specified dynamics Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model simulations reveals that the short-term variability of zonal mean gravity wave drag, which is quantified by the standard deviation over a 30-day window, in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitude mesosphere maximizes during December to March and September to November. The December to March enhancement is related to interhemispheric coupling during Northern Hemisphere sudden stratospheric warming events, and the enhancement during September to November is attributed to variability in the stratosphere and lower mesosphere zonal mean zonal winds that is driven by planetary wave activity in the Southern Hemisphere. Analysis of the simulations demonstrates that the short-term variability in mesospheric gravity wave drag leads to changes in the residual circulation, which subsequently introduces short-term variability in atomic oxygen (O) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). Comparison with the Northern Hemisphere reveals that the zonal mean short-term variability in the Southern Hemisphere during September to November is nearly as large (similar to 80-85%) as the maximum short-term variability in the Northern Hemisphere, which occurs during December to March. This demonstrates that although the Southern Hemisphere middle atmosphere is generally considered to be less disturbed than the Northern Hemisphere, there is still substantial short-term variability in the Southern Hemisphere mesosphere.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7wd43j8

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2018-11-16T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact