Mesospheric front observations by the OH airglow imager carried out at Ferraz Station on King George Island, Antarctic Peninsula, in 2011

Autor(es):Mostrar menos -

Giongo, Gabriel Augusto ^{[1, 2]} ; Bageston, Jose Valentin ^[1] ; Batista, Paulo Prado ^[3] ; Wrasse, Cristiano Max ^[3] ; Bittencourt, Gabriela Dornelles ^[2] ; Paulino, Igo ^[4] ; Paes Leme, Neusa Maria ^[5] ; Fritts, David C. ^[6] ; Janches, Diego ^[7] ; Hocking, Wayne ^[8] ; Schuch, Nelson Jorge ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] Natl Inst Space Res, Southern Reg Space Res Ctr, BR-97105970 Santa Maria, RS - Brazil

^[2] Univ Fed Santa Maria, BR-97195000 Santa Maria, RS - Brazil

^[3] Natl Inst Space Res, Aeron Div, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

^[4] Univ Fed Campina Grande, BR-5842990 Campina Grande, PB - Brazil

^[5] Natl Inst Space Res, Northern Reg Ctr, BR-59076740 Natal, RN - Brazil

^[6] Boulder GATS Inc, Boulder, CO 80301 - USA

^[7] NASA, Goddard Space Flight Ctr, Space Weather Lab, Greenbelt, MD 20771 - USA

^[8] Univ Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 3K7 - Canada

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: Annales Geophysicae; v. 36, n. 1, p. 253-264, FEB 27 2018.
• Citações Web of Science: 2

Resumo

The main goals of this work are to characterize and investigate the potential wave sources of four mesospheric fronts identified in the hydroxyl near-infrared (OH-NIR) air-glow images, obtained with an all-sky airglow imager installed at Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (EACF, as per its Portuguese acronym) located on King George Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. We identified and analyzed four mesospheric fronts in 2011 over King George Island. In addition, we investigate the atmospheric background environment between 80 and 100 km altitude and discuss the ducts and propagation conditions for these waves. For that, we used wind data obtained from a meteor radar operated at EACF and temperature data obtained from the TIMED/SABER satellite. The vertical wavenumber squared, m(2), was calculated for each of the four waves. Even though no clearly defined duct (indicated by positive values of m(2) sandwiched between layers above and below with m(2) < 0) was found in any of the events, favorable propagation conditions for horizontal propagation of the fronts were found in three cases. In the fourth case, the wave front did not find any duct support and it appeared to dissipate near the zenith, transferring energy and momentum to the medium and, consequently, accelerating the wind in the wave propagation direction (near to south) above the OH peak (88-92 km). The likely wave sources for these four cases were investigated by using meteorological satellite images and in two cases we could find that strong instabilities were potential sources, i.e., a cyclonic activity and a large convective cloud cell. In the other two cases it was not possible to associate troposphere sources as potential candidates for the generation of such wave fronts observed in the mesosphere and secondary wave sources were attributed to these cases. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 10/06608-2 - Estudo da dinâmica da região da mesosfera e baixa termosfera (80 a 100 km de altitude) na Ilha Rei George, Antártica (62 graus S)
• Beneficiário: José Valentin Bageston
• Modalidade de apoio: Bolsas no Brasil - Pós-Doutorado