Solar activity variations in midlatitude thermospheric meridional winds

Abstract

Upper thermospheric meridional wind data at midlatitudes and for low magnetic activity are examined for solar activity variations following an analysis scheme suggested by a Coordinated Analysis of the Thermosphere workshop. Wind data from incoherent scatter, Fabry‐Perot, and F2 peak heights show decreasing diurnal amplitudes with increasing solar activity during all seasons, except for Saint Santin data, which show a slight increase in summer. Equivalent winds from F2 peak height data have strong decreases in diurnal amplitude in all seasons. The coupled thermosphere ionosphere model and thermosphere ionosphere global circulation model predictions of diurnal amplitude, while differing considerably in magnitude, also show decreasing amplitudes during all seasons except summer, while the HWM90 empirical model amplitudes increase slightly with solar activity during all seasons. The diurnal mean wind trends with solar activity are fairly weak, except for Millstone Hill incoherent scatter radar, which shows a shift from strong southward to near zero or northward wind with increasing activity. Model results for the mean generally fall within the band of measurements. Near midnight, most of the data also show that the typically southward winds weaken with increasing solar activity in all seasons except summer, when results are mixed. There are significant differences between the trends and between absolute values for the various data sets and models which need further investigation.