Editorial Type:
Article
Article Type:
Research Article

The 4-Day Wave as Observed from the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite Microwave Limb Sounder

D. R. Allen Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

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J. L. Stanford Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa

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L. S. Elson Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

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E. F. Fishbein Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

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L. Froidevaux Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

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J. W. Waters Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California

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Print Publication:
01 Feb 1997
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1175/1520-0469(1997)054<0420:TDWAOF>2.0.CO;2
Page(s):
420–434
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Abstract

The “4-day wave” is an eastward moving quasi-nondispersive feature with period near 4 days occurring near the winter polar stratopause. This paper presents evidence of the 4-day feature in Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) temperature, geopotential height, and ozone data from the late southern winters of 1992 and 1993. Space–time spectral analyses reveal a double-peaked temperature structure consisting of one peak near the stratopause and another in the lower mesosphere, with an out-of-phase relationship between the two peaks. This double-peaked structure is reminiscent of recent three-dimensional barotropic/baroclinic instability model predictions and is observed here for the first time. The height variation of the 4-day ozone signal is shown to compare well with a linear advective–photochemical tracer model. Negative regions of quasigeostrophic potential vorticity (PV) gradient and positive Eliassen–Palm flux divergence are shown to occur, consistent with instability dynamics playing a role in wave forcing. Spectral analyses of PV derived from MLS geopotential height fields reveal a 4-day signal peaking near the polar stratopause. The three-dimensional structure of the 4-day wave resembles the potential vorticity “charge” concept, wherein a PV anomaly in the atmosphere (analogous to an electrical charge in a dielectric material) induces a geopotential field, a vertically oriented temperature dipole, and circulation about the vertical axis.

Corresponding author address: Douglas R. Allen, Argonne National Laboratory, Building 203, J/171, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439-4843.

Abstract

The “4-day wave” is an eastward moving quasi-nondispersive feature with period near 4 days occurring near the winter polar stratopause. This paper presents evidence of the 4-day feature in Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) temperature, geopotential height, and ozone data from the late southern winters of 1992 and 1993. Space–time spectral analyses reveal a double-peaked temperature structure consisting of one peak near the stratopause and another in the lower mesosphere, with an out-of-phase relationship between the two peaks. This double-peaked structure is reminiscent of recent three-dimensional barotropic/baroclinic instability model predictions and is observed here for the first time. The height variation of the 4-day ozone signal is shown to compare well with a linear advective–photochemical tracer model. Negative regions of quasigeostrophic potential vorticity (PV) gradient and positive Eliassen–Palm flux divergence are shown to occur, consistent with instability dynamics playing a role in wave forcing. Spectral analyses of PV derived from MLS geopotential height fields reveal a 4-day signal peaking near the polar stratopause. The three-dimensional structure of the 4-day wave resembles the potential vorticity “charge” concept, wherein a PV anomaly in the atmosphere (analogous to an electrical charge in a dielectric material) induces a geopotential field, a vertically oriented temperature dipole, and circulation about the vertical axis.

Corresponding author address: Douglas R. Allen, Argonne National Laboratory, Building 203, J/171, 9700 South Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439-4843.

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