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Dynamical Characteristics of Quasi-6-day Rossby Waves and Gravity Waves during the Stratospheric Sudden Warming in the Southern Hemisphere in 2019
  • Yuichi Minamihara,
  • Kaoru Sato,
  • Shingo Watanabe
Yuichi Minamihara
University of Tokyo

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Kaoru Sato
University of Tokyo
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Shingo Watanabe
Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
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Abstract

In September 2019, a minor but strong sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event occurred in the Southern Hemisphere. We examine the dynamical characteristics of the gravity waves (GWs) and Rossby waves (RWs), especially quasi-6-day waves (Q6DWs), during this event based on Program of the Antarctic Syowa (PANSY) radar observations and high-resolution Japanese Atmospheric General circulation model for Upper Atmosphere Research (JAGUAR) simulations. For the GWs, strongly negative vertical fluxes of zonal momentum in the stratosphere were observed around the edge of the polar vortex during the SSW event. In the mesosphere, strongly positive momentum fluxes were observed in the Eastern Hemisphere, where westward winds were dominant associated with the SSW event. For the RWs, two types of Q6DWs appeared during the SSW event: one with eastward phase velocity (Q6DW-E) and one with westward phase velocity (Q6DW-W). These waves had a baroclinic structure in vertical, differing from normal-mode 5-day Rossby waves. It is shown that Q6DW-E, which was observed prior to the SSW onset, was an unstable wave owing to the baroclinic instability in the high-latitude mesosphere. Conversely, Q6DW-W was observed after the onset and had characteristics of an upward-propagating internal RW. It is considered to be generated by barotropic/baroclinic instability in the upper stratosphere. This instability was likely caused by forcings resulting from the in situ generated Q6DW-E and RWs originating from the mid- and high-latitude troposphere, as well as the GW forcings, which were positive in the mesosphere and negative in the stratosphere associated with the SSW event.