Three years of concentric gravity wave variability in the mesopause as observed by IMAP/VISI

Abstract

Abstract We report a statistical study on concentric gravity waves (CGWs) in the mesopause (~95 km) using 3 years nightglow data obtained by Ionosphere, Mesosphere, upper Atmosphere and Plasmasphere/Visible and near‐Infrared Spectral Imager. The 235 CGWs events were found with horizontal wavelength ranging from 40 to 250 km and maximum radius of 200 to 3000 km. The latitudinal distribution of the CGWs centers had peaks in mid latitude (40°N and 40°S) and minimum at low latitudes (10°S). More events were found in the summer hemisphere midlatitudes, with a rapid transition between northern and Southern Hemisphere around the equinoxes. The occurrence probability was significantly higher during nonsolstice months (February–May and August–November) than solstice months (June–July and December–January), suggesting that there was a little breaking or critical level absorption so the waves could reach the mesopause more often during these periods. The global distribution showed several preferable regions but very few events over tropical convective regions.