Title: Space and time scales of large scale variations in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere as deduced from the PMR of nimbus 6
Abstract: Abstract Radiance/temperature measurements from the PMR experiment aboard the satellite Nimbus 6 have been analysed with respect to typical spatial and temporal scales for the height region between about 40 and 80 km. Eulerian integral time scales of 1–10 d, zonal scales of some 1000 km and meridional scales less than 1000 km have been found. The time scales change considerably with season, longitude and latitude. In the high latitude mesopause region a more pronounced semi-annual variation of zonal mean time scales is found, whereas the annual cycle is dominant at the stratopause. Estimation of macroturbulent horizontal diffusivities range from around 10 6 to 10 7 m 2 s − , depending on the horizontal direction. Comparison of experimentally derived time scales and theoretical radiative relaxation times indicates that the observed time scales are mainly determined by dynamical processes, except in the low latitude mesopause region, where radiative damping can prevent the evaluation of dynamical time scales.
Publication Year: 1986
Publication Date: 1986-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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Cited By Count: 2
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