Atmospheric Structure: Exploration over Antarctica & Equatorial Comparison

Abstract

Vertical profiles of zonal and meridional components of winds, and of temperatures as obtained from M-100 meteorological rocket soundings simultaneously conducted at Molodezhnaya, Antarctica and Thumba, equatorial India in 1972, particularly during the months of January (southern summer) and July (southern winter) are discussed and an intercomparison is made. Typical summer and winter profiles of atmospheric temperatures over Antarctica are compared with the corresponding Groves atmospheric model profiles. [G. V. Groves, AFCRL-71-0410 Bedford, Mass., 1971, 147]. It is found that the polar tropopause and stratopause in summer were about 30 and 20°C warmer than the corresponding winter tropopause and stratopause, while the mesopause was not well-defined. In the southern summer the zonal winds in the stratosphere were predominantly easterly with speed less than 50 msec-1 both over Antarctica and the equator, while in the winter the Antarctic zonal winds were strong westerlies with speed less than 100 msec-1 and equatorial winds were predominantly easterly with speed less than 40 msec-1. The meridional winds were found to be variable. The temperature departures from the Groves model were found to be less than 40°C.