2004 Volume 82 Issue 1B Pages 397-406
Structure and propagation of equatorial Kelvin waves during May 2001 and December 2002 are observed from the temperature profiles in the upper troposphere and the lower stratosphere using CHAMP and SAC-C GPS radio occultation data. Kelvin waves derived from temperature fluctuations characterize eastward phase propagation in time-longitude section and eastward phase tilts with height in altitude- longitude section between 10 and 30 km. The phase progression spans the range indicating the continuity of Kelvin waves from the upper troposphere to the lower stratosphere. Results show that near the tropopause, Kelvin waves fluctuate temperature by 2 K in general, with wave periods of 12.5-14 days for zonal wave number 1 and 9.3-11.0 days for wave number 2, and vertical wavelengths of 7.6- 8.5 km in 2001 and of 4.4-5.8 km in 2002.