Midlatitude mesopause region winds and waves and comparison with stratospheric variability

Abstract

We present time series of January–May mean mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) mean winds and planetary wave (PW) proxies over Europe together with stratospheric stationary planetary waves (SPW) at 50°N and time series of European ozone laminae occurrence. The MLT winds are connected with stratospheric PW and laminae at time scales of several years to decades. There is a tendency for increased wave activity after 1990, together with more ozone laminae and stronger MLT zonal winds. However, possible coupling processes are not straightforward. While mean MLT winds before the 1990s show similar interannual variations than stratospheric PW at 100 hPa, later a tendency towards a connection of the MLT with the middle stratosphere SPW is registered. There is also a tendency for a change in the correlation between lower and middle stratosphere SPW, indicating that coupling processes involving the European middle atmosphere from the lower stratosphere to the mesopause region have changed.