A study into the effects of gravity wave activity on the diurnal tide and airglow emissions in the equatorial mesosphere and lower thermosphere using the Coupled Middle Atmosphere and Thermosphere (CMAT) general circulation model

Abstract

Momentum deposition by gravity wave breaking is known to affect the amplitude and phase of the diurnal tide. Modelling studies of this interaction have produced some conflicting results and as yet, the exact nature of this interaction is not fully understood. In this study, the effects of parameterised gravity wave momentum deposition on the diurnal tide and subsequently on green line airglow from atomic oxygen during equinox are investigated using the Coupled Middle Atmosphere and Thermosphere (CMAT) general circulation model. The effects of gravity wave drag calculated by two different parameterisations, Meyer [1999. Gravity wave interactions with the diurnal propagating tide. Journal of Geophysical Research 104, 4223–4239] and Medvedev and Klaassen [2000. Parameterisation of gravity wave momentum deposition based on non-linear wave interactions: basic formulation and sensitivity tests. Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 62, 1015–1033], are compared in the low latitude MLT region between 70 and 120 km, where the amplitude of the diurnal tide and green line volume emission rates maximise. Results indicate that momentum sources from both gravity wave parameterisations act to reduce the mid-latitude zonal jets and advance the phase of the diurnal tide, such that the peak amplitude at a given height occurs at an earlier time of day. Gravity wave momentum deposition as parameterised by Meyer [1999. Gravity wave interactions with the diurnal propagating tide. Journal of Geophysical Research 104, 4223–4239] results in a reduction of the amplitude of the diurnal tide in the MLT region, whereas the tidal amplitude is increased when the Medvedev and Klaassen [2000. Parameterisation of gravity wave momentum deposition based on non-linear wave interactions: basic formulation and sensitivity tests. Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 62, 1015–1033] parameterisation is used. Both parameterisations affect the local time variability of the simulated airglow, and the magnitude of the peak emission rate. When using gravity wave momentum sources from the Medvedev and Klaassen [2000. Parameterisation of gravity wave momentum deposition based on non-linear wave interactions: basic formulation and sensitivity tests. Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics 62, 1015–1033] parameterisation, the magnitude and morphology of CMAT tidal winds and O( 1S) 557.7 nm emission rates are in agreement with recent satellite observations.