Height-latitude structure of the vertical component of the migrating semidiurnal tide in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere region (80–100 km)

Abstract

The height-latitude distributions of parameters of the vertical wind component of the semidiurnal tide were calculated for the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region (80–100 km) on the basis of empirical height-latitude distributions of the monthly mean parameters of variations in the horizontal wind component of the migrating semidiurnal tide. The constructed distributions are compared with the results of a numerical modeling of the migrating semidiurnal tide with the aid of a model of global circulation in the middle and upper atmosphere, as well as with the parameters of semidiurnal temperature variations obtained from the data of satellite measurements. It is shown that different models yield the distributions of parameters of semidiurnal variations, which agree within the errors of their values. The presence of high-latitude regions of local maximal amplitudes is a specific feature of the distributions of parameters of semidiurnal variations in the vertical wind constructed in the course of this work. On the whole, at heights of about 90 km and higher, semidiurnal variations in the vertical wind exceed the prevailing vertical wind in amplitude.