Abstract

Three years of daily global temperature grids at 5, 7, 9, and 12 scale heights have been retrieved from Nimbus 6 Pressure Modulator Radiometer measurements. A stationary pattern is observed in the tropical 12 scale height (about 82 km altitude) seasonal and monthly mean temperatures that has an approximately wavenumber four zonal structure. This pattern has warm centers located near the equator and cold centers positioned some 10 to 20 degrees of latitude away towards the winter pole. The amplitude of this pattern varies in a semiannual fashion, with maxima occurring during late winter and late summer. The structure and behavior of the feature compares well with the seasonal changes in tropical deep convective storms, leading to speculation that the feature may be driven by tropospheric gravity waves.

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