Response of quasi-10-day waves in the MLT region to the sudden stratospheric warming in March 2020

Abstract

We present an analysis of the response of quasi-10-day waves (Q10DWs) to the sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event which occurred on March 23, 2020. The Q10DWs are observed in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region by three meteor radars, which are located at middle latitudes along the 120°E meridian from Mohe (MH, 53.5°N, 122.3°E), Beijing (BJ, 40.3°N, 116.2°E), to Wuhan (WH, 30.5°N, 114.6°E). The Q10DWs reveal similar temporal and altitudinal variations during the SSW in the MLT region at the three stations. The activities of Q10DWs are also captured in the temperature measurements from the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) on the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite in the MLT region. Further analysis of the Q10DW phases indicates that the Q10DWs might be in situ generated due to mesospheric instabilities at higher latitudes around MH and then propagate southward to lower latitudes at BJ and WH. The atmospheric instabilities are not directly responsible for the excitations of Q10DWs at lower latitudes, while the observed equatorward propagation of the Q10DWs is important. Our result provides the observational evidence for latitudinal couplings in the MLT region after the SSW onset, which is achieved by southward propagating planetary waves in the MLT region.