Influence of the sudden stratosphere warming on quasi-2 day waves
Abstract. The influence of the sudden stratosphere warming (SSW) on quasi-2 day wave (QTDW) with westward zonal wavenumber 3 (W3) is investigated using the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM). The summer easterly jet below 90 km is strengthened during an SSW, which results in a larger refractive index and thus more favorable condition for the propagation of W3. In the winter hemisphere, the Eliassen Palm (EP) flux diagnostics indicate that the strong instabilities at middle and high latitudes in the mesopause region are important for the amplification of W3, which are weakened during SSW periods due to the deceleration or even reversal of the winter westerly winds. Nonlinear interactions between the W3 and the wavenumber 1 stationary planetary wave produce QTDW with westward zonal wavenumber 2 (W2). The meridional wind perturbations of the W2 peak in the equatorial region, while the zonal wind and temperature components maximize at middle latitudes. The EP flux diagnostics indicate that the W2 is capable of propagating upward in both winter and summer hemispheres, whereas the propagation of W3 is mostly confined to the summer hemisphere. This characteristic is likely due to the fact that the phase speed of W2 is larger, and therefore its waveguide has a broader latitudinal extension. The larger phase speed also makes W2 less vulnerable to dissipation and critical layer filtering by the background wind when propagating upward.