edu.ucar.opensky::articles:26903 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-24T18:58:30.491636 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7q244cf https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3895315 https Related Software #1 CESM-release-cesm2.1.1 Mesospheric water vapor from SABER as a tracer for the residual mean circulation during SSW events 2023-12-27T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7q244cf https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JD039526 Zhang, J. author Oberheide, J. author Pedatella, Nicholas M. author Koushik, N. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher The sparse wind observations and reanalysis winds in the mesosphere make it challenging to accurately determine the residual mean meridional circulation (MMC). As winds distribute tracers, an alternative approach is to utilize long-lived trace species such as water vapor (H2O). The recently released H2O data from Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) version 2.07, combined with simulations by the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model eXtension with specified dynamics (SD-WACCM-X) and with the Data Assimilation Research Testbed (WACCMX + DART), provide an opportunity to assess the accuracy of using H2O isopleths to derive the vertical component of the residual MMC during the 2009 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. In winter, the impact of photochemistry and diffusion on the distribution of mesospheric H2O is negligible compared to advective processes. H2O poleward of 70(degrees)N accurately captures the anomalous ascent that occurs a few days prior to the onset of the SSW and the subsequent descent. The derived vertical velocity in SD-WACCM-X and WACCMX + DART is qualitatively consistent with SABER observations. However, the derivation of vertical motion from isopleth analysis has limitations at the beginning of 2009 when the meridional transport is stronger than the vertical transport. While measuring winds in the mesosphere is challenging, satellite observations of mesospheric H2O prove to be an effective dynamical tracer during time periods characterized by strong vertical coupling. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. None eng geoscientificInformation