Caracterização das ondas planetárias nas medidas de ventos por radar de meteoros na estação na Antártica Comandante Ferraz.

Abstract

Planetary waves are large horizontal structures, with periods longer than one day, characterized as waves that always travel from east to west. This work presents a study of planetary waves identified in wind measurements between altitudes of 82 kmand 98 km in the Antarctic peninsula region, with the objective of characterizing planetary waves at high latitudes using meteor radar data. Using an observational and comparative approach and applied nature, hourly wind data obtained from February 2011 to mid-February 2012 were analyzed. The database used for the research consists of wind observations from the Drake Antarctic Agile Meteor Radar (DrAAMER ), installed at the Comandante Ferraz Antarctic Station (62.1°S, 58.4°W), located on King George Island. These data were submitted to analysis techniques, such as the Wavelet Transform, the Lomb-Scargle Periodogram and the Harmonic Analysis in order to obtain the amplitudes, the vertical wavelength and the phase velocity of the waves. Wave oscillations of 2, 4, 5 and 10 days were observed and characterized. The results obtained in this study confirm, according to the literature, that waves from different periods play different roles in different seasons. The 2-day wave is typical of the austral summer, while the 4-day wave plays a relevant role during the winter solstice. The 5-day wave occurred exclusively during the austral summer, and the 10- day wave exhibits seasonal characteristics during the austral winter.