The year-to-year variability of the autumn transition dates in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere wind regime and its coupling with the dynamics of the stratosphere and troposphere

The behaviour of the zonal prevailing wind in the autumn mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) and its correlations with dynamical processes in the lower atmosphere is considered in terms of the autumn transition date (ATD) variability. The AID is defined as the day when the rate of zonal wind decrease in the MLT region reaches its maximum in September-October. The method is applied to MLT radar wind data obtained at Collm (52 degrees N, 15 degrees E) and Obninsk (55 degrees N, 37 degrees E) during 1979-2007 and 1979-2011, respectively. The interannual variability of the ATDs depends on the direction of the stratospheric equatorial zonal winds at 30 hPa, i.e. the phase of the equatorial quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO). There is also a statistically significant correlation between the ATDs and the Northern Annular Mode (NAM) index taken at upper tropospheric/lower stratospheric heights during the westerly phase of the QBO. Numerical simulations with a mechanistic global circulation model demonstrate that high NAM indices correspond to later AID and that the AM, defined from the zonal wind characteristics, depends on the gravity wave flux. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.