Observed responses of mesospheric water vapor to solar cycle and dynamical forcings.

Abstract

This study focuses on responses of mesospheric water vapor (H2O) to the solar cycle flux at Lyman-α wavelength and to wave forcings according to the multivariate ENSO index (MEI). The zonal-averaged responses are for latitudes from 60°S to 60°N and pressure-altitudes from 0.01 to 1.0 hPa, as obtained by multiple linear regression (MLR) analyses of time series of H2O from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) for July 1992 to November 2005. The solar responses change from strong negative H2O values in the upper mesosphere to very weak, positive values in the tropical lower mesosphere. Those response profiles at the low latitudes agree reasonably with published results for H2O from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS). The distribution of seasonal H2O amplitudes corresponds well with that for temperature and is in accord with the seasonal net circulation. In general, the responses of H2O to MEI are anti-correlated with those of temperature. H2O responses to MEI are negative in the upper mesosphere and largest in the northern hemisphere; responses in the lower mesosphere are more symmetric with latitude. The H2O trends from MLR for the lower mesosphere agree with those reported from time series of microwave observations at two ground-based network stations.