This proposal arises as a continuation of the
ISSI
team 152 started in 2008 and titled “Bridging the gap
between the middle and upper atmosphere: coupling processes due to
winds and waves over an extended altitude range”, lead by Peter
Hoffmann. Analysis of the results identified studies of
Stratospheric Sudden Warming (SSW) events and other extreme events
as a promising path towards better understanding of vertical and
horizontal coupling of atmospheric layers. It also indicated that
a joint analysis of different altitudinal regions is necessary to
fully understand coupling processes. Three tasks were defined:
- Task 1: Specification of anomalies associated with SSW at
mesospheric and lower thermospheric altitudes
- Task 2: Understanding of temporal development in
stratospheric, mesospheric, thermospheric, and ionospheric
anomalies associated with lower atmospheric forcing
- Task 3: Identification and characterization of anomalies
associated with SSW in ionospheric parameters

Group photo, taken at the first meeting, although incomplete
(sitting: Klemens Hocke, Bernd Funke, Dora Pancheva, Larisa
Goncharenko, Rolf Rüfenacht, Peter Hoffmann, Satonori Nozawa,
and standing: Brigitte Tschanz, Tim Fuller-Rowell, Han-Li Liu,
Christoph Zülicke)