Altitude dependence of middle and low-latitude daytime thermospheric disturbance winds measured by WINDII

Physics – Space Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

7

Meteorology And Atmospheric Dynamics: Thermospheric Dynamics (0358), Meteorology And Atmospheric Dynamics: Climatology (1620), Ionosphere: Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0335), Atmospheric Composition And Structure: Thermosphere-Energy Deposition

Scientific paper

Thermospheric neutral winds exhibit strong altitudinal and latitudinal variation during geomagnetically quiet and active times. We use daytime middle and low-latitude neutral winds measured by the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) instrument on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) over the 90-275 km height range to study the altitude and season dependent climatology of disturbance winds (i.e., with quiet time patterns removed) in magnetic coordinates. The daytime perturbations winds are generally equatorward and westward and decrease toward the magnetic equator. Both the zonal and meridional components decrease sharply below 120 km and are essentially insignificant below 100 km. The seasonal dependence of the disturbance winds is strongest in the early morning sector. The zonal disturbance winds are predominantly westward with largest magnitudes near 150 km at late afternoon upper midlatitudes (magnetic latitudes 50°-60°) and near 120 km in the early morning winter between 25° and 45°. At upper midlatitudes in the early morning sector, the zonal perturbation winds are eastward above ~120 km in the summer hemisphere and between ~120 and 180 km in the winter hemisphere. Eastward perturbations are also observed near the magnetic equator with largest values near noon at 250 km. The meridional perturbation winds are mostly equatorward and nearly height-independent above ~150 km, with the largest magnitudes occurring in the early morning winter hemisphere. In the late afternoon sector the upper midlatitude meridional disturbance winds are poleward, and there is a small winter-to-summer flow at lower latitudes. In general, the storm-time dependence of the disturbance winds is quite complex. The perturbation winds begin to develop after 0-9 hours and tend to saturate 12-24 hours after storm onset. The development does not change much with altitude, and the seasonal dependence is generally important only at storm times greater than 6-12 hours.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Altitude dependence of middle and low-latitude daytime thermospheric disturbance winds measured by WINDII does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Altitude dependence of middle and low-latitude daytime thermospheric disturbance winds measured by WINDII, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Altitude dependence of middle and low-latitude daytime thermospheric disturbance winds measured by WINDII will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-967557

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.