Model calculations of middle atmospheric wind and temperature fields

Abstract The zonally-averaged circulation of the middle atmosphere between 10 and 110 km is calculated from a two-dimensional grid point model for steady solstice conditions. Using the temperatures of CIRA 72 in a diagnostic study of the vertical-meridional circulation we have investigated the influence of a latitude dependent static stability and the consequences of meridional temperature advection. In the summer mesopause region we found an area of subsidence which is located near the equatorward boundary of the noctilucent cloud region. In a self-consistent dynamical study we have assumed an empirical momentum source in the lower summer thermosphere in addition to the well-known Rayleigh friction to obtain an eastward zonal flow in this region.