The altitudinal and latitudinal structure of the planetary waves of a wind field in the stratosphere

In this article, we propose an empirical model for the planetary waves of prevailing zonal and meridional winds with zonal wave numbers $m = 1,2$ in the layer located at the isobaric surface height of 0.316 hPa above ground level. The model is based on the UK Met Office daily data on zonal and meridional winds for the period from 1992 till 2011 for the Northern and Southern hemispheres. The approaches and methods used for the processing of the initial fields allowed us to identify and analyze separately wave disturbances caused by interday and interannual variability, and the quasi-stationary component of the harmonics under study. The analysis showed that the altitudinal and latitudinal amplitude distributions of each of the harmonics of zonal and meridional winds differ considerably in structure. In this work, we describe the physical mechanisms explaining the individual characteristics of the fields under consideration. The trends of the maximum amplitudes of zonal and meridional winds in the stratosphere show that in 1992–2011, there was an amplification of the wave activity of both harmonics due to the non-stationary wave disturbances with the time scales of planetary waves (2–30 days). The established peculiarities of wave disturbances in the fields of zonal and meridional winds in the stratosphere with the time scales of planetary waves can be used for the construction of a new reference model of the middle atmosphere at an altitude interval of 10–55 km.