Summary
The 15-year set of radar observations of Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) winds obtained from Davis station in Antarctica (69S, 78E) provide an opportunity for studies of interhemispheric coupling. Observations and modelling described by Becker and Fritts [2006] suggests that wintertime planetary wave activity, and the gravity wave filtering associated with it, affect the global meridional residual circulation that drives the summer mesosphere from radiative equilibrium. In this context, southern hemisphere stations have the advantage that planetary wave activity of their opposite hemisphere is of greater magnitude making a variable response likely. This study uses correlation and superposed epoch analysis, and proposed coupling mechanisms [e.g. Karlsson et al., 2009] to identify atmospheric regions that are potentially coupled to the polar MLT. The seasonal variation of that coupling and the influences on that coupling of large scale waves such as the QBO are also investigated.