Bibliography

Climatology of Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Residual Circulations and Mesopause Height Derived From SABER Observations

In the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region, residual circulations driven by gravity wave breaking and dissipation significantly impact constituent distribution and the height and temperature of the mesopause. The distribution of CO2 can be used as a proxy for the residual circulations. Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) CO2 volume mixing ratio (VMR) and temperature measurements from 2003 to 2020 are used to study the monthly climatology of MLT residual circulations and the mesopause height. Our analyses show that (a) mesopause height strongly correlates with the CO2 VMR vertical gradient during solstices; (b) mesopause height has a discontinuity at midlatitude in the summer hemisphere, with a lower mesopause height at mid-to-high latitudes as a result of adiabatic cooling driven by strong adiabatic upwelling; (c) the residual circulations have strong seasonal variations at mid-to-high latitudes, but they are more uniform at low latitudes; and (d) the interannual variability of the residual circulations and mesopause height is larger in the Southern Hemisphere (SH; 4–5 km) than in the Northern Hemisphere (NH; 0.5–1 km).

Wang, Ningchao; Qian, Liying; Yue, Jia; Wang, Wenbin; Mlynczak, Martin; Russell, James;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres      Published on:

YEAR: 2022     DOI: 10.1029/2021JD035666

climatology; interannual variation; MLT region; residual circulation; seasonal variation

MLT science enabled by atmospheric lidars

With the pioneering development and deployment of different types of narrowband sodium fluorescence lidars in Europe (1985) and North America (1990) along with subsequent potassium and iron lidars, temperature and wind profilers have been observed to investigate atmospheric dynamics in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) in midlatitude, polar and equatorial regions. Their achieved resolution allows investigation ranging from small-scale gravity waves to long-term global change. This chapter highlights MLT science enabled by resonance fluorescence lidars in the past 30 years, divided into sections on climatology and long-term change of the atmospheric (background) state; MLT responses to external forcings that lead to atmospheric tides, the global-scale impacts of sudden stratospheric warming as well as geomagnetic storms; gravity wave dynamics and their fluxes; synergistic campaigns with lidars serving as a central instrument, and lidar observation of metal layers in the thermosphere at ever-higher altitudes. Recent advances in maintenance-free resonance lidars will increase the time and duration of lidar observation as well as their ease of operation. These should lead to more coherent multiple-day continuous observations of the MLT. Continued efforts to increase lidar signal/noise and to extend measurements from the main metal layers (80–110 km) into the lower thermosphere (up to 150 km) are ongoing. Further technology developments will also enable more lidar deployment on airplanes and in space to study the MLT over the oceans and other remote areas.

She, Chiao-Yao; Liu, Alan; Yuan, Tao; Yue, Jia; Li, Tao; Ban, Chao; Friedman, Jonathan;

Published by:       Published on:

YEAR: 2021     DOI: 10.1002/9781119815631.ch20

Geomagnetic storms; atmospheric stabilities; atmospheric state; climatology; clustered instrumentation; gravity wave dynamics; MLT science; resonance fluorescence lidars; sporadic metal layers; thermospheric metal layers

Climatology of global gravity wave activity and dissipation revealed by SABER/TIMED temperature observations

Gravity wave activity and dissipation in the height range from the low stratosphere to the low thermosphere (25\textendash115 km) covering latitudes between 50\textdegreeS and 50\textdegreeN are statistically studied by using 9-year (January 22, 2002\textendashDecember 31, 2010) SABER/TIMED temperature data. We propose a method to extract realistic gravity wave fluctuations from the temperature profiles and treat square temperature fluctuations as GW activity. Overall, the gravity wave activity generally increases with height. Near the equator (0\textdegree\textendash10\textdegree), the gravity wave activity shows a quasi-biennial variation in the stratosphere (below 40 km) while from 20\textdegree to 30\textdegree, it exhibits an annual variation below 40 km; in low latitudes (0\textdegree\textendash30\textdegree) between the upper stratosphere and the low thermosphere (40\textendash115 km), the gravity wave activity shows a semi-annual variation. In middle latitudes (40\textdegree\textendash50\textdegree), the gravity wave activity has a clear annual variation below 85 km. In addition, we observe a four-monthly variation with peaks occurring usually in April, August, December in the northern hemisphere and in February, June, October in the southern hemisphere, respectively, above 85 km in middle latitudes, which has been seldom reported in gravity wave activity. In order to study the dissipation of gravity wave propagation, we calculate the gravity wave dissipation ratio, which is defined as the ratio of the gravity wave growth scale height to the atmosphere density scale height. The height variation of the dissipation ratio indicates that strong gravity wave dissipation mainly concentrates in the three height regions: the stratosphere (30\textendash60 km), the mesopause (around 85 km) and the low thermosphere (above 100 km). Besides, gravity wave energy enhancement can be also observed in the background atmosphere.

Shuai, Jing; Zhang, ShaoDong; Huang, ChunMing; YI, Fan; Huang, KaiMing; Gan, Quan; Gong, Yun;

Published by: Science China Technological Sciences      Published on: 05/2014

YEAR: 2014     DOI: 10.1007/s11431-014-5527-z

climatology; dissipation; gravity wave; middle and high atmosphere; SABER; TIMED

Annual/semiannual variation of the ionosphere

We investigated the relationship between the systematic annual and semiannual variations in the ionosphere and thermosphere using a combination of data analysis and model simulation. A climatology of daytime peak density and height of the ionospheric F₂ layer was obtained from GPS radio occultation measurements by the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) during 2007\textendash2010. These measurements were compared to simulations by the NCAR Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM). Model reproduction of the ionospheric annual and semiannual variations was significantly improved by imposing seasonal variation of eddy diffusion at the lower boundary, which also improves agreement with thermospheric density measurements. Since changes in turbulent mixing affect both the thermosphere and ionosphere by altering the proportion of atomic and molecular gases, these results support the proposition that composition change drives the annual/semiannual variation in both the neutral and ionized components of the coupled system.

Qian, Liying; Burns, Alan; Solomon, Stanley; Wang, Wenbin;

Published by: Geophysical Research Letters      Published on: 05/2014

YEAR: 2013     DOI: 10.1002/grl.50448

annual/semiannual variations; climatology; eddy diffusion; gravity waves; neutral density and composition; NmF2