Regular Article

Influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the mesosphere

  1. Tao Li1,*,
  2. Natalia Calvo2,3,
  3. Jia Yue4,
  4. Xiankang Dou1,
  5. J. M. Russell III4,
  6. M. G. Mlynczak5,
  7. Chiao-Yao She6 and
  8. Xianghui Xue1

Article first published online: 18 JUN 2013

DOI: 10.1002/grl.50598

Issue

Geophysical Research Letters

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume 40, Issue 12, pages 3292–3296, 28 June 2013


Additional Information

How to Cite

Li, T., N. Calvo, J. Yue, X. Dou, J. M. Russell III, M. G. Mlynczak, C.-Y. She, and X. Xue (2013), Influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation in the mesosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, 3292–3296, doi:10.1002/grl.50598.

Author Information

  1. 1

    CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

  2. 2

    Atmospheric Chemistry Division and Advance Study Program, National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, USA

  3. 3

    Now at Departamento Fisica de la Tierra II, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

  4. 4

    Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia, USA

  5. 5

    NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia, USA

  6. 6

    Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA

*Corresponding author: T. Li, CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui 230026, China. (litao@ustc.edu.cn)

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 18 JUL 2013
  2. Article first published online: 18 JUN 2013
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 31 MAY 2013 06:45AM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 29 MAY 2013
  5. Manuscript Revised: 27 MAY 2013
  6. Manuscript Received: 17 APR 2013

Funded by

  • National Natural Science Foundation of China. Grant Numbers: 41225017, 41074108, 41127901, 41025016, 41121003
  • NSF/AGS. Grant Number: 1136082

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Keywords:

  • El Niño-Southern Oscillation;
  • mesospheric temperature;
  • SABER;
  • WACCM

[1] Using the middle atmosphere temperature data set observed by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) satellite experiment between 2002 and 2012, and temperatures simulated by the Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model version 3.5 (WACCM3.5) between 1953 and 2005, we studied the influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) on middle atmosphere temperature during the Northern Hemisphere (NH) wintertime. For the first time, a significant winter temperature response to ENSO in the middle mesosphere has been observed, with an anomalous warming of ~1.0 K/MEI (Multivariate ENSO Index) in the tropics and an anomalous cooling of ~ −2.0 K/MEI in the NH middle latitudes. The observed temperature responses to ENSO in the mesosphere are opposite to those in the stratosphere, in agreement with previous modeling studies. Temperature responses to ENSO observed by SABER show similar patterns to those simulated by the WACCM3.5 model. Analysis of the WACCM3.5 residual mean meridional circulation response to ENSO reveals a significant downwelling in the tropical mesosphere and upwelling in the NH middle and high latitudes during warm ENSO events, which is mostly driven by anomalous eastward gravity wave forcing in the NH mesosphere.

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