Atmospheric Tides and Planetary Waves: Recent Progress Based on SABER/TIMED Temperature Measurements (2002–2007)

Abstract

The present paper is focused on the global spatial (altitude and latitude) structure, seasonal and interannual variability of the atmospheric tides (migrating and nonmigrating) and planetary waves (stationary and zonally traveling) derived from the SABER/TIMED temperature measurements for full 6 years (January 2002–December 2007). The mean wave amplitudes and phases are presented for the latitude range 50°N–50°S and from the lower stratosphere to the lower thermosphere (20–120 km). The main advantage of the results presented in this paper is that the migrating and nonmigrating tides as well as all significant planetary waves found in the SABER/TIMED temperatures are extracted simultaneously from the raw data (downloaded from the SABER web site temperatures). Therefore, using the same analysis techniques and the same data set makes it possible to get a consistent picture of the wave activity in the stratosphere-mesosphere-lower thermosphere system. Concerning the atmospheric tides, in addition to the migrating diurnal and semidiurnal tides the following nonmigrating tides also received significant attention: diurnal eastward propagating with zonal wavenumbers 2 and 3 and westward propagating with zonal wavenumber 2 and semidiurnal westward propagating with zonal wavenumber 3 and eastward propagating with zonal wavenumbers 2 and 3. A special attention is paid to the climatology and interannual variability of the temperature SPW1 and its origin in the lower thermosphere, as well as for following zonally propagating planetary waves: the ~5-day Rossby wave; ~6-day Kelvin wave, the ~10-day W1 wave and ~16-day W1 wave. The presented detailed picture of the spatial (altitude, latitude) structure and temporal variability of the considered atmospheric tides and planetary waves can serve as a benchmark and guide for future numerical modeling studies aimed at better understanding the stratosphere-mesosphere-lower thermosphere coupling by tidal and planetary wave patterns.