Influence of Obliquely Propagating Monsoon Gravity Waves on Southern
Polar Summer Mesosphere after Stratospheric Sudden Warmings in Winter
Stratosphere
Abstract
Oblique propagation of gravity waves (GWs) refers to latitudinal
propagation (or vertical propagation away from their source) from the
low latitude troposphere to the polar mesosphere. This propagation is
not included in current gravity wave parameterization schemes, but may
be an important component of the global dynamical structure. Previous
studies have revealed a high correlation between observations of GW
Momentum Flux (GWMF) from monsoon convection and Polar Mesospheric
Clouds (PMCs) in the northern hemisphere. In this work, we report on
data and model analysis of the effects of Stratospheric Sudden Warmings
(SSWs) in the northern hemisphere, on the oblique propagation of GWs
from the southern hemisphere tropics, that in turn influence PMCs in the
southern summer mesosphere. In response to SSWs, vertical propagation of
GWs from high-latitude winter hemisphere is at mid latitudes and appears
more slanted toward the equator with increasing altitude, following the
weaker stratospheric eastward jet. The oblique propagation of GWs from
southern monsoon regions tends to start at higher altitudes with a
sharper poleward slanted structure towards the summer mesosphere. The
correlation between PMCs in summer southern hemisphere and the zonal
GWMF from 50°N to 50°S exhibits a high-correlation pattern that connects
the winter stratosphere with the summer mesosphere, indicating the
influence of inter-hemispheric coupling mechanism. Temperature and wind
anomalies suggest that the dynamics in winter hemisphere can influence
the equatorial region, which in turn, can influence the oblique
propagation of monsoon GWs.