Inter-annual (QBO) variations of mean temperatures and diurnal tide based on measurements from SABER (TIMED) and MLS (UARS

More than three years of temperature data from the SABER instrument on TIMED and the MLS instrument on UARS are analyzed to study the inter-annual variations in the stratosphere and mesosphere. Because of the sampling properties of SABER and MLS, variations with local solar time are accounted for when estimating the zonal mean variations. The year-to-year variations with season of the zonal mean and migrating tidal amplitudes are thus derived. The diurnal tide amplitudes show a strong semiannual variation, and the zonal mean component includes the annual, semi-annual, and higher harmonics. At altitudes in the mesosphere, the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) in temperature is analyzed up to mid latitudes. Preliminary results show a downward phase progression with altitude and symmetric phase variations with latitude about the equator. There is evidence that the QBO plays a role in the inter-annual variations of the diurnal tide. The amplitudes of the mean temperatures can be of the order of 1° to 2°K, while the tidal amplitudes approach 20°K in the mesosphere. The results are compared with predictions from the Numerical Spectral Model (NSM).