A measurement of the lunar semidiurnal tide at Wuhan (30°40′N, 114°30′E)

Abstract

Abstract Upper atmospheric winds have been measured at heights from 80 to 100 km overWuhan (30°40N, 114°30′E), China with a meteor radar from 2002 to 2005. The variations of lunar semidiurnal tidal amplitudes and phases with both seasons and heights are studied in detail to reveal the properties of the lunar semidiurnal tide. It is shown that the lunar semidiurnal tide is stronger in January than other months, and its second peak appears near August. For most months the eastward maximum is 3 ± 1 lunar hours later than the northward maximum, as classical theory predicts for a northern hemisphere tide. The observed seasonal and height variations are also compared with the Global Scale Wave Model (GSWM). The phases do not agree well with those of the GSWM model. The maximum amplitude occurs in a different month in the model. There are about 5 lunar hours phase difference between the observed and the model at 90 and 96 km in eastward and northward components. A comparison of the lunar and solar semidiurnal tides is also shown in this paper. The behavior of these two tides in season is different, especially for the month of appearance of maximum amplitude.