Initial comparisons of planetary waves in the stratosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere over Antarctica

Planetary wave signatures, with periods of approximately 16, 10 and 5 days have been observed at altitudes ranging from 30 km to 220 km over Halley (76°S, 26°W), Antarctica. A comparative analysis of these signatures in the stratosphere, mesosphere and ionosphere has been conducted on a continuous 130‐day data sequence in the austral winter of 1997. This analysis utilises stratospheric European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) operational analyses, mesospheric Imaging Doppler Interferometer (IDI) data and ionospheric sounding data. The development and decay of these planetary waves were characterised as a function of altitude by selecting period ranges corresponding to each of the 16‐day, 10‐day and 5‐day normal mode oscillations from a wavelet analysis. The observations suggest ducting of the quasi 16‐day planetary wave from stratospheric mid‐latitudes to mesospheric high‐latitudes and a strong link between planetary waves in the mesosphere and F2‐region.