Variability of diurnal tides and planetary waves during November 1978–May 1979

Abstract

Nonlinear interactions between stationary waves and the migrating tides have been proposed as possible sources of nonmigrating tides in the middle and upper atmosphere. The objective of this study is to increase observational support for these processes. We examine the evolution of stationary planetary waves and nonmigrating diurnal tides in the lower mesosphere during November 1978–May 1979, based on a newly released, version 6 of the Nimbus 7 LIMS dataset. Planetary wavenumber one is large and variable during the Northern hemisphere winter months, reaching peak amplitude in the lower mesosphere between 20 and 30 January. This behavior is accompanied by rapid amplification of nonmigrating diurnal tides with zonal wavenumbers zero and two. These components correspond to product waves generated by interaction between the migrating diurnal tide and the stationary wave. The westward traveling zonal wavenumber two diurnal tide is dominant at tropical latitudes, in accordance with theoretical studies. The correlation between the nonmigrating tide and stationary wavenumber one is highest when the stationary wave penetrates to subtropical latitudes.