Rocket Observations of Kelvin Waves in the Upper Stratosphere over India

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Abstract
The upper atmospheric winds (20–40 km) at two Indian stations, Sriharikota Range (SHAR 13.7°N, 80.2°E) and Balasore (2 1.5°N, 86.93°E) during the years 1979–80 were analyzed for short scale vertical variations (6–16 km) of the zonal wind. The analysis involves high-pass filtering of the wind profiles to extract the short-scale wavelike perturbations and Fourier analysis of the wave disturbances. The results of the analysis are presented. The dominant vertical wavelengths are in the 6–12 km range in 67% of the observed cases, and the amplitudes are significantly larger during the easterly background wind. The amplitudes are systematically larger by about a factor of 2 at Sriharikota (13.7°N) than at 1Wasore (21.5°N). Corresponding wave perturbations are absent in the meridional wind in as much as 70% of the observations. These characteristics lead to the conclusion that the observed wavelike disturbances are the manifestation of Kelvin waves in the upper stratosphere. In some cases, the periods of the waves are inferred to be in the range of 4–8 days. The short vertical wavelengths, together with the shorter periods, indicate the possible dominance of zonal wavenumber 2 during many disturbance events. The observations of the wave activity in relation to the semiannual oscillation (SAO) and the annual oscillation (AO) show that 1) the more active periods correspond to the easterly phase of the SAO in the middle stratosphere and that 2) the wave activity persists for a longer duration when both the AO and SAO are in easterly phase.

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