Climatology of Horizontal Winds in the Lower and Middle Atmosphere over an Equatorial Station - Thiruvananthapuram

The climatology of prevailing horizontal winds in the 0-98 km region over an equatorial station Thiruvananthapuram is presented here. The climatology of horizontal winds is derived by making use of monthly mean zonal and meridional winds obtained from four decades of balloon flights (1970-2010), three decades of rocket flights (1971-1993, 2002-2007) and one decade of SKiYMET meteor wind radar (2004-2014) observations. The observed climatology is compared with the global scale wave model (GSWM-09), and similarities and differences are discussed. Seasonal trends in the horizontal winds and features specific to the equatorial region are also discussed.