On the Use of Simultaneous Measurements of OH and O2 Emissions to Investigate Wave Growth and Dissipation

Simultaneous measurements of mesospheric OH (6-2) Meinel and O2 (0-1) Atmospheric band emis- sions from a low-latitude station, Maui, Hawaii (20.8 N, 156.2 W) are utilized to study the wave characteristics and associated processes. Deduced temperatures show large vari- ability in both OH and O2 data. The seasonal variability in the temperature shows a well-defined, semiannual type of os- cillation, which are comparable to the ground-based rocket sounding data. The "Wave Growth Factor", a ratio of nor- malized perturbation amplitude in O2 to the OH tempera- ture variability, is estimated for principal as well as resid- ual smaller period components of the nocturnal variability. It is noticed that smaller period waves (less than 12 h) oc- casionally have large growth factors of about 3-4 during equinox transitions, an indication of wave amplitude ampli- fication within the 87-94 km altitudes while a strong wave- dissipation occurs throughout the year.

[1]  E. R. Reisin,et al.  Gravity wave activity in the mesopause region from airglow measurements at El Leoncito , 2004 .

[2]  Steven J Franke,et al.  Terdiurnal wave signatures in the upper mesospheric temperature and their association with the wind fields at low latitudes (20°N) , 2005 .

[3]  A. Taori,et al.  Characteristics of wave induced oscillations in mesospheric O2 emission intensity and temperatures , 2006 .

[4]  S. Vadas,et al.  Thermospheric responses to gravity waves: Influences of increasing viscosity and thermal diffusivity , 2005 .

[5]  H. Takahashi,et al.  Observations of gravity waves from multispectral mesospheric nightglow emissions observed at 23°S , 1995 .

[6]  R. Sridharan.  EQUATORIAL AND LOW LATITUDE THERMOSPHERE-IONOSPHERE INTERACTION , 1998 .

[7]  G. K. Mukherjee.  The signature of short-period gravity waves imaged in the OI 557.7nm and near infrared OH nightglow emissions over Panhala , 2003 .

[8]  S. Vadas,et al.  Mean and variable forcing of the middle atmosphere by gravity waves , 2006 .

[9]  M. Taylor,et al.  Long-period wave signatures in mesospheric OH Meinel (6,2) band intensity and rotational temperature at mid-latitudes , 2001 .

[10]  J. Scheer,et al.  Characteristics of atmospheric waves in the tidal period range derived from zenith observations of O2(0–1) Atmospheric and OH(6‐2) airglow at lower midlatitudes , 1996 .

[11]  S. Melo,et al.  Dynamical influence on the equatorial airglow observed from the South American sector , 1998 .

[12]  M. Taylor,et al.  Characterization of the semi-annual-oscillation in mesospheric temperatures at low-latitudes , 2005 .

[13]  M. Alexander,et al.  Gravity wave dynamics and effects in the middle atmosphere , 2003 .

[14]  J. Noxon.  Effect of internal gravity waves upon night airglow temperatures , 1978 .

[15]  R. Lindzen.  Turbulence and stress owing to gravity wave and tidal breakdown , 1981 .

[16]  A. Manson,et al.  Climatological monthly characteristics of middle atmosphere gravity waves (10 min-10 h) during 1979–1993 at Saskatoon , 1995 .

[17]  M. Taylor,et al.  Terdiurnal oscillations in OH Meinel rotational temperatures for fall conditions at northern mid‐latitude sites , 2000 .