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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 35, L09808, doi:10.1029/2007GL032911, 2008

Impact of terrestrial weather on the upper atmosphere

T. J. Fuller-Rowell

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


R. A. Akmaev

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


F. Wu

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


A. Anghel

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


N. Maruyama

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


D. N. Anderson

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


M. V. Codrescu

CIRES/University of Colorado and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA


M. Iredell

NOAA/NWS/EMC, Camp Springs, Maryland, USA


S. Moorthi

NOAA/NWS/EMC, Camp Springs, Maryland, USA


H.-M. Juang

NOAA/NWS/EMC, Camp Springs, Maryland, USA


Y.-T. Hou

NOAA/NWS/EMC, Camp Springs, Maryland, USA


G. Millward

LASP, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA


Abstract

A whole atmosphere model has been developed to demonstrate the impact of terrestrial weather on the upper atmosphere. The dynamical core is based on the NWS Global Forecast System model, which has been extended to cover altitudes from the ground to 600 km. The model includes the physical processes responsible for the stochastic nature of the lower atmosphere, which is a source of variability for the upper atmosphere. The upper levels include diffusive separation, wind induced transport of major species, and uses specific enthalpy as the dependent variable, to accommodate composition dependent gas constants and specific heats. A one-year model simulation reveals planetary waves explicitly up to 100 km altitude. At higher altitude, multi-day periodicities in the dynamics appear as a modulation of tidal amplitudes, particularly the migrating semi-diurnal tide in the lower thermosphere dynamo region. The penetration of planetary wave periodicities from tropospheric weather into the upper atmosphere can explain terrestrial weather sources of variability in the thermospheric and ionospheric.

Received 5 December 2007; accepted 2 April 2008; published 10 May 2008.

Keywords: upper atmosphere variability; planetary waves; tides.

Index Terms: 2427 Ionosphere: Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions (0335); 3389 Atmospheric Processes: Tides and planetary waves; 3367 Atmospheric Processes: Theoretical modeling; 0358 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Thermosphere: energy deposition (3369); 2435 Ionosphere: Ionospheric disturbances.

Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 556968 bytes)

Citation: Fuller-Rowell, T. J., et al. (2008), Impact of terrestrial weather on the upper atmosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L09808, doi:10.1029/2007GL032911.