> Details

Poblet, Facundo L. [Author]; Vierinen, Juha [Author]; Avsarkisov, Victor [Author]; Conte, J. Federico [Author]; Charuvil Asokan, Harikrishnan [Author]; Jacobi, Christoph [Author]; Chau, Jorge L. [Author]; 2 Arctic University of Norway Tromsø Norway [Author]; 1 Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Rostock Kühlungsborn Germany [Author]; 3 Institute for Meteorology Leipzig University Leipzig Germany [Author]

Horizontal Correlation Functions of Wind Fluctuations in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere

Reference
management

Bookmarks

Remove from
bookmarks

Share this on Whatsapp

Close

Bookmarks



You can manage bookmarks using lists, please log in to your user account for this.
  • Media type: E-Article
  • Title: Horizontal Correlation Functions of Wind Fluctuations in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere
  • Contributor: Poblet, Facundo L. [Author]; Vierinen, Juha [Author]; Avsarkisov, Victor [Author]; Conte, J. Federico [Author]; Charuvil Asokan, Harikrishnan [Author]; Jacobi, Christoph [Author]; Chau, Jorge L. [Author]; 2 Arctic University of Norway Tromsø Norway [Author]; 1 Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics at the University of Rostock Kühlungsborn Germany [Author]; 3 Institute for Meteorology Leipzig University Leipzig Germany [Author]
  • imprint: GEO-LEOe-docs (FID GEO), 2023-03-14
  • Language: English
  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD038092
  • Keywords: wind fluctuations ; mesosphere ; lower thermosphere
  • Origination:
  • Footnote: Diese Datenquelle enthält auch Bestandsnachweise, die nicht zu einem Volltext führen.
  • Description: Measurements of kinetic energy in vortical and divergent fluctuations in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere can be used to study stratified turbulence (ST) and gravity waves. This can be done using horizontal correlation functions of the fluctuating component of velocity. This study introduces a novel method for estimating these correlation functions using radars that observe Doppler shifts of ionized specular meteor trails. The technique solves the correlation functions directly on a longitudinal‐transverse‐up coordinate system, assuming axial symmetry. This procedure is more efficient and leads to smaller uncertainties than a previous approach. The new technique is applied to a year‐long data set from a multistatic specular meteor radar network in Germany, to study the annual variability of kinetic energy within turbulent fluctuations at 87–93 km of altitude. In monthly averages, the kinetic energy is found to be nearly equipartitioned between vortical and divergent modes. Turbulent fluctuations maximize during the winter months with approximately 25% more energy in these months than at other times. The horizontal correlation functions are in agreement with the inertial subrange of ST, exhibiting a 2/3 power law in the horizontal lag direction, with an outermost scale of ST to be about 380 km. This suggests that horizontal correlation functions could be used to estimate turbulent energy transfer rates. ; Plain Language Summary: Flows exhibit a phenomenon called turbulence, which transfers energy from large scales into smaller scales. This effect is important to quantify the energy budget of the Earth's upper atmosphere. The range of length scales where this phenomenon occurs is called the inertial subrange of turbulence. The classical theory of isotropic turbulence predicts that this energy transfer occurs on length scales smaller than ∼100 m, at 60–110 km altitude. Recent work has shown that horizontal velocity fluctuations can extend the inertial subrange to length scales of up to hundreds of kilometers ...
  • Access State: Open Access