Middle atmospheric planetary waves in contrasting QBO phases over the Indian low latitude region

Abstract

The present study primarily focused on the characteristics of the planetary scale waves in the middle atmosphere during different phases of Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO), a dominant oscillation in the low-latitude stratospheric region. The temperature profiles retrieved from the Rayleigh lidar measurements have been utilized for the 11 winter periods between 1998 and 2009 over a low-latitude station, Gadanki (13.5oN 79.2oE). The spectral analysis of temperature anomalies indicates two dominant planetary-scale modes, namely, quasi 12-day and quasi 16-day waves. The existence of these waves in the middle atmosphere is strongly controlled by the westerly and easterly phases of QBO. For instance, the 12-day wave is mainly observed in the QBO westerly phase, while the 16-day wave peaks at two heights; 30–40 km and above 60 km with large spread in the mesosphere due to Doppler shifting in presence of westerly winds. The QBO easterly phase indicates low wave activity with 16-day wave indicating appreciable amplitudes in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere and is absent in the lower altitudes. This indicates that the 16-day wave might be generated through some in-situ mechanism due to gravity breaking or instability in the mesospheric region. Moreover, the refractive index of the two dominant planetary waves are strongly negative in the easterly phase relative to the westerly phase of QBO in the lower troposphere and stratosphere. This indicates the high probability of the planetary wave vertical propagation in the westerly phase of QBO. Therefore, the presented report re-emphasizes the importance of QBO controlling the middle atmospheric dynamics through vertical propagation of planetary scale waves in low-latitudes.