Low latitude airglow

Tropical airglow work during the last few years is reviewed. Airglow instrumentation is becoming more complex. Some of these sophisticated airglow experiments giving important information about the upper atmosphere such as ionospheric F region electron density, height of maximum electron density, dynamics of and irregularities in the F region, mesospheric neutral temperature and its variation, dynamics of mesospheric, etc. are mentioned. At the end some problems which could be tackled in near future with airglow techniques have been suggested. Invited Review paper, Commission 21, IAU, Patras, Greece, August, 1982.     

Short timescale variability of the mesospheric sodium layer

In this article we investigate the short-term characteristics of the sodium layer and their implications for laser guide star systems. We report measurements of sodium density andcentroid-height variations on timescales of 100 ms upwards. Significant centroid-height variations on short timescales may necessitate frequent refocussing of the beam and wavefront sensor system.We present results from observations of the mesospheric sodium layer taken at the Max Planck observatory in Calar Alto, Spain in September 1997 and August 1998. We describe our experiment which uses the resonant optical backscatter of 589.2 nm laser light from the upper atmosphere as a measure of sodium abundance.Short-term variations are dominated by the formation of dense sporadic layers in the normal sodium layer. Measurements were made on 3 nights in 1997 and on 2 nights in 1998. Somewhat unexpectedly for a mid-latitude site, sporadic sodium layers were seen on 4 of these 5 nights. One of the sporadic layers was observed for its duration. The 2 km wide layer reached a maximum intensity of approximately two and a half times that of the background layer and could be distinguished from the background for over five hours. Centroid height variations of up to 400 m were observed on timescales of 1–2 min. In 1998 we were sensitive to variations of 5% or more in total sodium abundance on timescales of 100 ms upwards. We found no evidencefor variations of this level on these short timescales.     

Long-term changes of (polar) mesosphere summer echoes

Strong VHF radar echoes have been observed not only during summer months at polar latitudes (polar mesosphere summer echoes, PMSE) but also at middle latitudes (mesosphere summer echoes, MSE). These echoes are closely connected with small ice particles, thus containing information about mesospheric temperature and water vapour content. But the (P)MSE also depend on the ionisation due to solar wave radiation and precipitating high energetic particles. Observations with VHF radars at Andenes (69.3°N; 16.0°E) since 1994 and at Kühlungsborn (54.6°N; 11.8°E) since 1998 are used for investigations of the solar and geomagnetic control of the (P)MSE as well as of possible long-term changes. The (P)MSE are positively correlated with the solar Lyman α radiation and the geomagnetic activity and have slightly positive trends. Due to the limited measuring period, the significance levels of the detected (P)MSE trends are small. Positive trends in noctilucent clouds (NLC) and polar mesospheric clouds (PMC) are in general agreement with (P)MSE trends.     

Measurements of the terrestrial dust influx variability by the Cosmic Dust Experiment

We report on the results of the Cosmic Dust Experiment (CDE) onboard the Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere (AIM) satellite, collected during eight months of operation between May 2007 and February 2008. CDE is an impact detector designed to measure the variability of the cosmic dust influx of grains with radius, . CDE consists of 14 permanently polarized polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) channels that produce an electrical signal when impacted with hyper-velocity dust particles. The instrument has a total surface area of 0.11 m² and a time resolution of 1 s. CDE experienced higher noise levels than expected on-orbit, triggering the need for new laboratory experiments, as well as the development of new data reduction approaches. We present the first eight months of reduced CDE data, highlighting the observed spatial and temporal variability of the cosmic dust influx.     

Extensions of Leovy's linear mesospheric circulation model

Linear mesospheric circulation models can quite realistically simulate mid-latitude mesospheric circulation and structure. In doing so they provide estimates for dissipation (Rayleigh friction 2×10^–6s^–1) and vertical mixing (30 m²s^–1) appropriate near the mesopause.     

Seasonal and Diurnal Ozone Variations: Observations and Modeling

Ozone mixing ratios observed by the Bordeaux microwave radiometer between 1995 and 2002 in an altitude range 25–75 km show diurnal variations in the mesosphere and seasonal variations in terms of annual and semi-annual oscillations (SAO) in the stratosphere and in the mesosphere. The observations with 10–15 km altitude resolution are presented and compared to photochemical and transport model results.Diurnal ozone variations are analyzed by averaging the years 1995–1997 for four representative months and six altitude levels. The photochemical models show a good agreement with the observations for altitudes higher than 50 km. Seasonal ozone variations mainly appear as an annual cycle in the middle and upper stratosphere and a semi-annual cycle in the mesosphere with amplitude and phase depending on altitude. Higher resolution (2 km) HALOE (halogen occultation experiment) ozone observations show a phase reversal of the SAO between 44 and 64 km. In HALOE data, a tendancy for an opposite water vapour cycle can be identified in the altitude range 40–60 km.Generally, the relative variations at all altitudes are well explained by the transport model (up to 54 km) and the photochemical models. Only a newly developed photochemical model (1-D) with improved time-dependent treatment of water vapour profiles and solar flux manages to reproduce fairly well the absolute values.