Variations of the tropical O(1S) nightglow as observed with the Arecibo Observatory photometer and WINDII on UARS

This work investigates the tropical O(¹S) nightglow variations utilizing observations from the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) operated on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) and photometers installed at the Arecibo Observatory (18°N, 67°W) in Puerto Rico. Both are long-term datasets, but there is limited overlap in the dates of observation. Their simultaneous observations of column integrated emission rate on 6 continuous days in 1993 have a consistent difference at some times. The ground-based emission rate includes the F-region component of the O(¹S) emission, while the vertical profiles of WINDII allow the E- and F-region emission to be separated. This allows subtraction of the F-region emission rate for the Arecibo measurements and leads to a decisive study of the O(¹S) nightglow variation. The monthly averaged integrated emission rates (excluding the F-region component) are computed for WINDII from November 1991 to August 1997 and for the photometer data through 1983–2004. The emission rates between WINDII and Arecibo exhibit a similar semiannual variation. They have maxima at the two equinoxes and minima at solstices with a larger maximum in spring than in fall, while the WINDII averaged emission rates are larger than the apparent photometer averages by a factor of 2 for the mean values. The satellite WINDII and ground-based Arecibo instruments sample local time hours differently, but the local time influence is found not to be the origin of the difference. Because the observation periods are for different solar cycle intervals for the WINDII and Arecibo datasets, the influence of the solar F10.7 cm flux on the O(¹S) nightglow emission rate is also studied. The comparison between WINDII and Arecibo further offers a possibility to assess the atmospheric transmittance for these ground-based observations. The MODTRAN estimated transmittance of 0.7 is reasonably consistent with the difference in the O(¹S) nightglow emission rate between WINDII and the Arecibo photometer.     

Lower thermospheric nitric oxide concentrations derived from WINDII observations of the green nightglow continuum at 553.1 nm

Vertical profiles of nitric oxide in the altitude range 90 to 105 km are derived from 553 nm nightglow continuum measurements made with the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). The profiles are derived under the assumption that the continuum emission is due entirely to the NO+O air afterglow reaction. Vertical profiles of the atomic oxygen density, which are required to determine the nitric oxide concentrations, are derived from coordinated WINDII measurements of the atomic oxygen OI 557.7 nm nightglow emission. Data coverage for local solar times ranging from 20 h to 04 h, and latitudes ranging from 42°S to 42°N, is achieved by zonally averaging and binning data obtained on 18 nights during a two-month period extending from mid-November 1992 until mid-January 1993. The derived nitric oxide concentrations are significantly smaller than those obtained from rocket measurements of the airglow continuum but they do compare well with model expectations and nitric oxide densities measured using the resonance fluorescence technique on the Solar Mesosphere Explorer satellite. The near-global coverage of the WINDII observations and the similarities to the nitric oxide global morphology established from other satellite measurements strongly suggests that the NO+O reaction is the major source of the continuum near 553 nm and that there is no compelling reason to invoke additional sources of continuum emission in this immediate spectral region.     

东亚MLT区域平均纬向风再评估——WINDII测量分析结果

本文利用1991年11月至1997年8月期间美国WINDII/UARS获得的风场测量数据对东亚上空纬向风进行考察. 研究结果给出了位于120°E 子午圈中90～120 km之间平均纬向风的典型结构及其季节特征,与在武汉开展流星雷达探测结果进行比较的结果说明卫星测量分析结果在对季节特征的描述方面与地基测量有相当好的一致性;较好的一致性还表现在与过去从HRDI/UARS数据中得到的月平均纬向风. 这些说明卫星探测结果有相当好的代表性. 与国际标准大气CIRA-86月平均纬向风开展比较的结果显示,从100 km高度开始这两种卫星数据分析结果都与CIRA-86结果表现出严重偏离,例如在赤道和低纬度地区某些高度,CIRA-86纬向风在全年的大部分时段中表现出与卫星数据分析结果风向不一致. 分析结果还显示WINDII纬向风和HRDI纬向风分析结果之间表现出一个幅度约20 m·s^-1的系统偏差,考虑到本文分析过程中采用了通过归并36天测量数据来消除周日变化影响的方案,同时参考其他研究工作中对MLT纬向风周日潮幅度的描述,两种卫星数据分析结果之间的系统偏差可能部分来自大气潮汐的影响.     

Intercalibration of HRDI and WINDII wind measurements

The High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) and the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) instruments, which are both on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, measure winds by sensing the Doppler shift in atmospheric emission features. Because the two observation sets are frequently nearly coincident in space and time, each provides a very effective validation test of the other. Discrepancies due to geophysical differences should be much smaller than for comparisons with other techniques (radars, rockets, etc.), and the very large sizes of the coincident data sets provide excellent statistics for the study. Issues that have been examined include relative systematic offsets and the wind magnitudes obtained with the two systems. A significant zero wind position difference of 6 m s^–1 is identified for the zonal component, and it appears that this arises from an absolute perturbation in WINDII winds of -4 m s^–1 and in HRDI of +2 m s^–1. Altitude offsets appear to be relatively small, and do not exceed 1 km. In addition, no evidence is found for the existence of a systematic wind speed bias between HRDI and WINDII. However, considerable day-to-day variability is found in the quality of the agreement, and RMS differences are surprisingly large, typically in the range of 20-30 m s^–1.     

The O(1S) dayglow emission as observed by the WIND imaging interferometer on the UARS

Volume emission rate profiles of the O(¹D-¹S) 5577 Å dayglow measured by the WIND imaging interferometer on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite are analyzed to examine the O(¹S) excitation mechanisms in the sunlit lower thermosphere and upper mesosphere. The observed emission profiles are compared with theoretical profiles calculated using a model which takes into account all of the known daytime sources of O(¹S). These include photoelectron impact on atomic oxygen, dissociative recombination of O⁺₂, photodissociation of molecular oxygen, energy transfer from metastable N₂(A³⁺_u) and three body recombination of atomic oxygen. Throughout most of the thermosphere the measured and modelled emission rates are in reasonably good agreement, given the limitations of the model, but in the region below 100 km, where the oxygen atom recombination source is likely to dominate, the measured emission rates are considerably larger than those modelled using the MSIS-90 oxygen atom densities. This discrepancy is discussed in terms of possible inadequacies in the MSIS-90 model atmosphere and/or additional sources of O(¹S) at low altitude.     

The D-region ion composition

In this paper it is attempted to evaluate the relative importance of Lyman , EUV, solar X-rays and the secondary cosmic rays in producing ionization in the D-region below 90 km. The resulting ionization is studied in reference to its variations with the solar zenith angle and the solar activity. The currently available absorption and ionization cross-sections and the radiation fluxes have been used. The computed production rates and the currently accepted positive and negative ion reaction schemes are used to compute the positive and negative ion composition. The resulting electron density profiles are compared with the rocket and the theoretical profiles obtained by other workers. The agreement with the rocket results (Mechtly and Smith) appears to be satisfactory whereas the theoretical profiles given by others differ considerably below 70 and 80 km respectively for the solar minimum and maximum conditions.     

Imaging of structures in the high-latitude ionosphere: model comparisons

The tomographic reconstruction technique generates a two-dimensional latitude versus height electron density distribution from sets of slant total electron content measurements (TEC) along ray paths between beacon satellites and ground-based radio receivers. In this note, the technique is applied to TEC values obtained from data simulated by the Sheffield/UCL/SEL Coupled Thermosphere/Ionosphere/Model (CTIM). A comparison of the resulting reconstructed image with the input modelled data allows for verification of the reconstruction technique. All the features of the high-latitude ionosphere in the model data are reproduced well in the tomographic image. Reconstructed vertical TEC values follow closely the modelled values, with the F-layer maximum density (NmF2) agreeing generally within about 10%. The method has also been able successfully to reproduce underlying auroral-E ionisation over a restricted latitudinal range in part of the image. The height of the F2 peak is generally in agreement to within about the vertical image resolution (25 km).     

Latitudinal variations of neutral wind structures in the lower thermosphere for the March equinox period

Neutral winds in the lower thermosphere (95–$\text{130}\text{km}$) measured during the March equinox period (1991–1992) by ground-based incoherent scatter radars at Arecibo (18°N), Millstone Hill (42.5°N), and Sondrestrom (67°N) and by the space-based wind imaging interferometer (WINDII) are compared and show overall good agreement but some differences. At 18°N, the wind field in the altitude region of 95–$\text{110}\text{km}$ displays prevailing upward propagating diurnal tides with wavelengths of about $\text{22}\text{km}$. The diurnal structure is affected by the semidiurnal tide resulting in regular minima separated by 11–$\text{12}\text{h}$. At altitudes above $\text{110}\text{km}$, the diurnal tide dominant wind structure changes to the semidiurnal tide dominant structure as illustrated clearly by WINDII data with $\text{24}\text{h}$ coverage. Winds at 42.5°N and 67°N show similar structures in which winds at 105–$\text{115}\text{km}$ are generally anti-sunward. Daytime ISR winds show prevailing upward propagating semidiurnal tides with wavelengths of 35–$\text{70}\text{km}$. Winds from WINDII reveal the existence of the in situ thermospheric diurnal tide with amplitudes comparable to those of the semidiurnal tide. The superimposition of the two tides result in a wind field stronger during daytime than during nighttime at mid- and high-latitudes. Geomagnetic influence on neutral winds is negligible at low- and mid-latitudes under solar quiet conditions, but is observed at high-latitudes, where wind vectors follow a clockwise one-cell pattern at altitudes above about $\text{118}\text{km}$ in geomagnetic coordinates. Most recent simulations for the three latitudes provided by the NCAR thermosphere/ionosphere/mesosphere electrodynamics general circulation model are compared to the observations. The results at low- and mid-latitudes agree well with the observed winds in both wind structures and magnitudes, and reveal details of wave transition. Simulations for high-latitudes are less satisfactory, and require further improvements.     

Saxothuringian-Moldanubian Suture and Predisposition of Seismicity In The Western Bohemian Massif

We modelled the thickness and seismic anisotropy of the subcrustal lithosphere from the variations of P-wave delay times and the shear-wave splitting observed at seismological observatories and portable stations in the western part of the Bohemian Massif. The Saxothuringian lithosphere is characterized by a total thickness between 90 and 120 km, the Moldanubian lithosphere is generally thicker –120-140 km, on the average. The subcrustal lithosphere of both units is characterised by divergently dipping anisotropic structures and the suture between them is marked by a lithosphere thinning to about 80km. Within the subcrustal lithosphere a complex structure of the transition of both units extends to about 150 km toward the south. We suggest that the Saxothuringian-Moldanubian suture has created a zone of mechanical predisposition for the Tertiary Ohe (Eger) Graben, as well as for the occurrence of earthquake swarms in the region. Most earthquakes occur within the brittle part of the upper crust above the crossing of the suture between the Saxothuringian in the north and the Moldanubian and the Tepl´-Barrandian in the south, with the tectonically active Mariánské Lázn fault.     

Thermal tides and studies to tune the mechanistic tidal model using UARS observations

Monthly simulations of the thermal diurnal and semidiurnal tides are compared to High-Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) and Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) wind and temperature measurements on the Upper-Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). There is encouraging agreement between the observations and the linear global mechanistic tidal model results both for the diurnal and semidiurnal components in the equatorial and mid-latitude regions. This gives us the confidence to outline the first steps of an assimilative analysis/interpretation for tides, dissipation, and mean flow using a combination of model results and the global measurements from HRDI and WINDII. The sensitivity of the proposed technique to the initial guess employed to obtain a best fit to the data by tuning model parameters is discussed for the January and March 1993 cases, when the WINDII day and night measurements of the meridional winds between 90 and 110 km are used along with the daytime HRDI measurements. Several examples for the derivation of the tidal variables and decomposition of the measured winds into tidal and mean flow components using this approach are compared with previous tidal estimates and modeling results for the migrating tides. The seasonal cycle of the derived diurnal tidal amplitudes are discussed and compared with radar observation between 80 and 100 km and 40° S and 40°N.     

Mean vertical wind in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere region (80–120 km) deduced from the WINDII observations on board UARS

The WINDII interferometer placed on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite measures temperature and wind from the O(¹S) green-line emission in the Earths mesosphere and lower thermosphere. It is a remote-sensing instrument providing the horizontal wind components. In this study, the vertical winds are derived using the continuity equation. Mean wind annually averaged at equinoxes and solstices is shown. Ascendance and subsidence to the order of 1–2 cm s^–1 present a seasonal occurrence at the equator and tropics. Zonal Coriolis acceleration and adiabatic heating and cooling rate associated to the mean meridional and vertical circulations are evaluated. The line emission rate measured together with the horizontal wind shows structures in altitude and latitude correlated with the meridional and vertical wind patterns. The effect of wind advection is discussed.     

An investigation of the dependence of structural parameters of the middle atmosphere on the intensity of photochemical and dynamical processes

Using a numerical model for temperature and neutral and ion composition behaviour at middle atmospheric heights, an analysis has been made of the dependence of atmospheric structural parameters on temperature, solar activity, and on turbulent transfer intensity. For mesospheric heights, an inverse dependence of the nitric oxide density on the temperature has been found. It is thus possible to explain experimentally obtained temperature variations over a cyclc of solar activity at mesospheric and lower thermospheric heights. Numerical simulation results indicate that the temperature in the height range 75–120 km depends considerably on both the absolute values of turbulent transfer coefficients and their vertical gradients.     

Long-term changes of the upper stratosphere as seen by Japanese rocketsondes at Ryori (39°N, 141°E)

Wind and temperature profiles measured routinely by rockets at Ryori (Japan) since 1970 are analysed to quantify interannual changes that occur in the upper stratosphere. The analysis involved using a least square fitting of the data with a multiparametric adaptative model composed of a linear combination of some functions that represent the main expected climate forcing responses of the stratosphere. These functions are seasonal cycles, solar activity changes, stratospheric optical depth induced by volcanic aerosols, equatorial wind oscillations and a possible linear trend. Step functions are also included in the analyses to take into account instrumental changes. Results reveal a small change for wind data series above 45 km when new corrections were introduced to take into account instrumental changes. However, no significant change of the mean is noted for temperature even after sondes were improved. While wind series reveal no significant trends, a significant cooling of 2.0 to 2.5 K/decade is observed in the mid upper stratosphere using this analysis method. This cooling is more than double the cooling predicted by models by a factor of more than two. In winter, it may be noted that the amplitude of the atmospheric response is enhanced. This is probably caused by the larger ozone depletion and/or by some dynamical feedback effects. In winter, cooling tends to be smaller around 40–45 km (in fact a warming trend is observed in December) as already observed in other data sets and simulated by models. Although the winter response to volcanic aerosols is in good agreement with numerical simulations, the solar signature is of the opposite sign to that expected. This is not understood, but it has already been observed with other data sets.     

Relative concentration of oxygen atoms and molecules at a height of 120 km according to the data of ionospheric measurements

It is convenient to use the semi-empirical model (SEM), developed by the authors earlier and describing the relation of the electron density at heights of the middle ionosphere (120–200 km) to the parameters of the thermosphere and the integral flux of the ionizing solar radiation, to estimate the gas composition characteristics using the data of ionospheric measurements [Shchepkin et al., 2008]. The ratios of the concentrations of oxygen atoms and nitrogen molecules to those of oxygen molecules and atoms at a height of 120 km are compared using two SEM versions. The first version is based on the usage of the coefficients obtained from the measurements of N(h) profiles at Moscow observatory. The electron densities at heights of 120–200 km, obtained at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics in 2003–2006 using the digisonde, were the experimental data for the second version.     

Interannual variability of tropospheric NO2 column over central Europe — observations from SCIAMACHY and GEM-AQ model simulations

Spatial and temporal variability of NO₂ tropospheric column over Europe was analyzed for a 3 year period (2008–2010) based on monthly average observations from SCIAMACHY and the GEM-AQ model results. The GEM-AQ model was run in a global variable configuration with a resolution of ～15 km over Central Europe. Spatial averaged time series were calculated for two selected regions in Western and Central Europe in order to assess the seasonal and interannual variability of the tropospheric NO₂. The spatial pattern is similar near large emission sources for consecutive years. However, in remote regions there are differences due to interannual variability of meteorological conditions. Highest tropospheric NO₂ column values (over 150 × 10¹⁵ molecules/cm²) were persistent over the Benelux and over most of the European agglomerations. The general agreement between modelled and observed NO₂ column is good. In the remote areas, the modelled NO₂ column shows weaker gradients than the observed field.     

Semiannual and annual variations in the height of the ionospheric F2-peak

Ionosonde data from sixteen stations are used to study the semiannual and annual variations in the height of the ionospheric F2-peak, hmF2. The semiannual variation, which peaks shortly after equinox, has an amplitude of about 8 km at an average level of solar activity (10.7 cm flux = 140 units), both at noon and midnight. The annual variation has an amplitude of about 11 km at northern midlatitudes, peaking in early summer; and is larger at southern stations, where it peaks in late summer. Both annual and semiannual amplitudes increase with increasing solar activity by day, but not at night. The semiannual variation in hmF2 is unrelated to the semiannual variation of the peak electron density NmF2, and is not reproduced by the CTIP and TIME-GCM computational models of the quiet-day thermosphere and ionosphere. The semiannual variation in hmF2 is approximately isobaric, in that its amplitude corresponds quite well to the semiannual variation in the height of fixed pressure-levels in the thermosphere, as represented by the MSIS empirical model. The annual variation is not isobaric. The annual mean of hmF2 increases with solar 10.7 cm flux, both by night and by day, on average by about 0.45 km/flux unit, rather smaller than the corresponding increase of height of constant pressure-levels in the MSIS model. The discrepancy may be due to solar-cycle variations of thermospheric winds. Although geomagnetic activity, which affects thermospheric density and temperature and therefore hmF2 also, is greatest at the equinoxes, this seems to account for less than half the semiannual variation of hmF2. The rest may be due to a semiannual variation of tidal and wave energy transmitted to the thermosphere from lower levels in the atmosphere.     

A geophysical study of the granites and the sedimentary basins of the Xanthi area (N. Greece)

Intrusive features of varying size can be interpreted from the aeromagnetic map of the Xanthi area in N. Greece.The Xanthi pluton, which outcrops north of the city of Xanthi, seems to have the shape of a truncated pyramid. This feature has relatively large areal extent and reaches an approximate depth of 7 km. Another, relatively large magnetic body is buried under the sediments at the estuary of the Nestos River.3-D models of several smaller intrusions were constructed and the produced effect was compared to the observed. Some of these intrusions seem to be detached branches of the large Xanthi pluton.The basement in the outer part of the basin of the Nestos River seems to be buried at about 4 km depth. This figure is obtained by the Multiple Source Werner Deconvolution estimates and it is in agreement with the results of former geophysical studies and deep industrial boreholes.A 3-D model of the Xanthi-Komotini basin suggests that this basin is about 0.4 km deep at its southern part. The depth at its northern boundary is about 1.8 km while the boundary itself is formed by the large Kavala-Xanthi-Komotini fault.The Tertiary basin of the Nestos River and the observed magmatism are consistent with the idea of an older extensional tectonic regime in the area.     

Effect of remote clouds on surface UV irradiance

Clouds affect local surface UV irradiance, even if the horizontal distance from the radiation observation site amounts to several kilometers. In order to investigate this effect, which we call remote clouds effect, a 3-dimensional radiative transfer model is applied. Assuming the atmosphere is subdivided into a quadratic based sector and its surrounding, we quantify the influence of changing cloud coverage within this surrounding from 0% to 100% on surface UV irradiance at the sector center. To work out this remote clouds influence as a function of sector base size, we made some calculations for different sizes between 10 km × 10 km and 100 km × 100 km. It appears that in the case of small sectors (base size 20 km × 20 km) the remote clouds effect is highly variable: Depending on cloud structure, solar zenith angle and wavelength, the surface UV irradiance may be enhanced up to 15% as well as reduced by more than 50%. In contrast, for larger sectors it is always the case that enhancements become smaller by 5% if sector base size exceeds 60 km × 60 km. However, these values are upper estimates of the remote cloud effects and they are found only for special cloud structures. Since these structures might occur but cannot be regarded as typical, different satellite observed cloud formations (horizontal resolution about 1 km × 1 km) have also been investigated. For these more common cloud distributions we find remote cloud effects to be distinctly smaller than the corresponding upper estimates, e.g., for a sector with base size of 25 km × 25 km the surface UV irradiance error due to ignoring the actual remote clouds and replacing their influence with periodic horizontal boundary conditions is less than 3%, whereas the upper estimate of remote clouds effect would suggest an error close to 10%.     

Solar eclipse of the 29 March 2006: Results of the optical measurements by MORTI over Almaty (43.03°N, 76.58°E)

The observations of the upper mesosphere region (∼95 km altitude) in the period of 27–30 March 2006 using mesopause oxygen rotational temperature imager (MORTI) at Almaty (43.03°N, 76.58°E) are presented in this report to illustrate the mesosphere response to the solar eclipse (SE) event, which occurred on 29 March 2006. The nighttime volume emission rates and rotational temperatures, obtained from MORTI measurements, show appreciable differences in the pattern of wave-like oscillations observed during the period of interest. These oscillations are possibly due to the SE. Using a periodogram method the spectra of the observed wave-like oscillations, observed in the mesosphere, are examined. A physical mechanism is proposed to interpret the effects observed in terms of the mesosphere response to the total SE.