Identification

Title

Impact of the semidiurnal lunar tide on the midlatitude thermospheric wind and ionosphere during sudden stratosphere warmings

Abstract

Variability of the midlatitude ionosphere and thermosphere during the 2009 and 2013 sudden stratosphere warmings (SSWs) is investigated in the present study using a combination of Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) observations and thermosphere-ionosphere-mesosphere electrodynamics general circulation model (TIME-GCM) simulations. Both the COSMIC observations and TIME-GCM simulations reveal perturbations in the F region peak height (hmF₂) at Southern Hemisphere midlatitudes during SSW time periods. The perturbations are ∼20-30 km, which corresponds to 10-20% variability of the background mean hmF₂. The TIME-GCM simulations and COSMIC observations of the hmF₂ variability are in overall good agreement, and the simulations can thus be used to understand the physical processes responsible for the hmF₂ variability. Through comparison of simulations with and without the migrating semidiurnal lunar tide (M₂), we conclude that the midlatitude hmF₂ variability is primarily driven by the propagation of the M₂ into the thermosphere where it modulates the field-aligned neutral winds, which in turn raise and lower the F region peak height. Though there are subtle differences, the consistency of the behavior between the 2009 and 2013 SSWs suggests that variability in the Southern Hemisphere midlatitude ionosphere and thermosphere is a consistent feature of the SSW impact on the upper atmosphere.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7hh6mk9

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2015-12-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact