Gravity-wave momentum fluxes in the mesosphere over Ascension Island (8° S, 14° W) and the anomalous zonal winds of the semi-annual oscillation in 2002

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Abstract

Anomalously strong westward winds during the first phase of the equatorial mesospheric semi-annual oscillation (MSAO) have been attributed to unusual filtering conditions producing exceptional gravity-wave fluxes. We test this hypothesis using meteor-radar measurements made over Ascension Island (8° S, 14° W). An anomalous wind event in 2002 of -85.5 ms-1 occurred simultaneously with the momentum fluxes of high-frequency gravity waves reaching the largest observed westward values of -29m2 s-2 and strong westward wind accelerations of -510 ms-1 day-1. However, despite this strong wave forcing during the event, no unusual filtering conditions or significant increases in wave-excitation proxies were observed. Further, although strong westward wave-induced accelerations were also observed during the 2006 MSAO first phase, there was no corresponding simultaneous response in westward wind. We thus suggest that strong westward fluxes/accelerations of high-frequency gravity waves are not always sufficient to produce anomalous first-phase westward MSAO winds and other forcing may be significant.

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Moss, A. C., Wright, C. J., Davis, R. N., & Mitchell, N. J. (2016). Gravity-wave momentum fluxes in the mesosphere over Ascension Island (8° S, 14° W) and the anomalous zonal winds of the semi-annual oscillation in 2002. Annales Geophysicae, 34(2), 323–330. https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-34-323-2016

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