Inter-hemispheric coupling during northern polar summer periods of 2002-2010 using TIMED/SABER measurements

Abstract It has been found that for more than one polar summer season between 2002 and 2010, the northern polar mesospheric region near and above about 80 km was warmer than normal. The strongest warming effect of this type was observed to occur during northern summer 2002. Observational and theoretical studies imply that these “anomalies” were preceded by unusual dynamical processes in the southern hemisphere. We have analyzed temperature distributions measured by the SABER limb scanning infrared radiometer aboard the NASA TIMED satellite between 2002 and 2010 at altitudes from 15 to 110 km and for latitudes between 83°S and 83°N. We describe the approach to trace the spatial extent of inter-hemispheric temperature correlations demonstrating the global features that were unique for the “anomalous” northern polar summers. From our analysis of SABER data from 2002 to 2010, the anomalous heating for the northern mesopause region during northern summer was accompanied by stratospheric heating in the equatorial region. In the winter hemisphere it is accompanied by heating in the lower stratosphere and mesopause region, and cooling in the stratopause region. Also, all the elements of the temperature anomaly structure appear to develop and fade away nearly simultaneously, thereby suggesting either a global influence or a short lagging period (less than 7 days).