Diagnostic Analysis of the Eliassen-Palm Flux and Momentum Deposition in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere by the SABER Measured Migrating Tides

Tidal and planetary-scale waves in temperatures and winds are the largest features of mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) dynamics and its variability observable from satellites. Such waves play important roles in maintaining zonal mean atmospheric states, modulating the energetic balance, and transporting tracers in the MLT region. SABER on TIMED has been providing accurate and stable measurements of the temperature fields for over five years. The extracted zonal mean and tidal temperature fields from our newly developed algorithm are consistent with those derived from general circulation models. A spectral module is developed to derive tidal winds from the measured tidal temperature fields that effectively eliminates the error amplification near the apparent singularities. Using the SABER measured temperatures and the derived winds for both the zonal mean and migrating tidal fields we conduct a diagnostic analysis of the Eliassen-Palm flux and momentum deposition in the MLT region. Implications of the diagnostic results in association with the wave dynamics will be discussed.