The mesospheric inversion layer and sprites

The vertical structure of temperature observed by SABER (Sounding of Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) aboard TIMED (Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics) and sprites observations made during the Eurosprite 2003 to 2007 observational campaign were analyzed. Sprite observations were made at two locations in France, namely Puy de Dome in the French Massif Central and at the Pic du Midi in the French Pyrenees. It is observed that the vertical structure of temperature shows evidence for a Mesospheric Inversion Layer (MIL) on those days on which sprites were observed. A few events are also reported in which sprites were not recorded, although there is evidence of a MIL in the vertical structure of the temperature. It is proposed that breaking gravity waves produced by convective thunderstorms facilitate the production of (a) sprites by modulating the neutral air-density and (b) MILs via the deposition of energy. The same proposition has been used to explain observations of lightings as well as both MILs and lightning arising out of deep convections.Comment: 34 pages, 5figures. Accepted in Journal of Geophysical Research, US

Model-measurement comparison of mesospheric temperature inversions, and a simple theory for their occurrence

Mesospheric temperature inversions are well established observed phenomena, yet their properties remain the subject of ongoing research. Comparisons between Rayleigh-scatter lidar temperature measurements obtained by the University of Western Ontario's Purple Crow Lidar (42.9°N, 81.4°W) and the Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model are used to quantify the statistics of inversions. In both model and measurements, inversions occur most frequently in the winter and exhibit an average amplitude of ∼10 K. The model exhibits virtually no inversions in the summer, while the measurements show a strongly reduced frequency of occurrence with an amplitude about half that in the winter. A simple theory of mesospheric inversions based on wave saturation is developed, with no adjustable parameters. It predicts that the environmental lapse rate must be less than half the adiabatic lapse rate for an inversion to form, and it predicts the ratio of the inversion amplitude and thickness as a function of environmental lapse rate. Comparison of this prediction to the actual amplitude/thickness ratio using the lidar measurements shows good agreement between theory and measurements

Nighttime Thermospheric Winds Over Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland

Observations of nighttime thermospheric neutral winds made at Sondre Stromfjord, Greenland, with optical and radar instrumentation, showed an occasional abatement in the equatorward meridional wind at a magnetic local time corresponding to the nighttime division between the evening and morning convection cells. This abatement appeared primarily in the poleward observations. In contrast, however, the characteristic midnight “surge” was usually seen in the equatorward set of observations. The apparent acceleration of about 250 m/s or greater within 4.6° latitude we attribute, in part, to a merging of neutral jet streams generated by polar cap ion drag adjacent to the auroral zone boundary, and, in part, to the higher electron densities and plasma convection speeds adjacent to the auroral zone. Comparison of these results with those from NCAR/TGCM computations that assumed an analytical plasma convection model showed reasonable agreement, except for the abatement feature

Optical and Radar Characterization of a Short-Lived Auroral Event at High Latitude

Observations of optical emission intensities and incoherent scatter radar returns in the magnetic zenith were compared in a study carried out at Sondre Stromfjord (Λ = 76.1°) in Greenland. The results were used to test the consistency of a theoretical model of ion chemistry and optical emissions in aurora and to explore the accuracy of relations between optical measurements and the average energy of the incident electrons. The incident primary electron spectrum and its temporal variation were inferred from zenith electron density profiles from the radar. The inferred primary energy spectrum at the peak intensity of the event approximated a Maxwellian distribution of characteristic energy 1.3 keV accelerated by an energy increment between 2 and 5 keV. Average energies inferred from the radar electron density profiles, from the N2 + rotational temperature and the I(6300)/I(4278) ratio were in good agreement. The variation of the I(8446)/I(4278) ratio was studied and was found to be promising as an index of average incident electron energy. An empirical relation between this ratio and average energy was derived from the data. The observed values of I(4278) exceeded the theoretical values derived from the ionization rate profiles deduced from the radar data by a factor near 2.0. Observed electron density profiles and theoretical profiles calculated from optical data were in good agreement provided that the optically inferred ion production rates were reduced by the same factor of 2. This discrepancy is probably the cumulative result of small errors in instrument calibrations, viewing geometry, recombination coefficients and the excitation and ionization cross sections used in the model

Seasonal variation of the mesospheric inversion layer, thunderstorms and mesospheric ozone over India

Temperature and ozone volume mixing ratio profiles obtained from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) aboard the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite (UARS) over India and over the open ocean to the south during the period 1991-2001 are analyzed to study the characteristic features of the Mesospheric Inversion Layer (MIL) at 70 to 85 km altitude and its relation with the ozone mixing ratio at this altitude. We have also analyzed both the number of lightning flashes measured by the Optical Transient Detector (OTD) onboard the MicroLab-1 satellite for the period April 1995 - March 2000 and ground-based thunderstorm data collected from 78 widespread Indian observatories for the same period to show that the MIL amplitude and thunderstorm activity are correlated. All the data sets examined exhibit a semiannual variation. The seasonal variation of MIL amplitude and the frequency of occurrence of the temperature inversion indicate a fairly good correlation with the seasonal variation of thunderstorms and the average ozone volume mixing ratio across the inversion layer. The observed correlation between local thunderstorm activity, MIL amplitude and mesospheric ozone volume mixing ratio are explained by the generation, upward propagation and mesospheric absorption of gravity waves produced by thunderstorms.Comment: 45 pages, 10 figures, 2 tables, PDF format, version published in Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospher

Horizontal thermal structure of the mesosphere from observations of OH(8-3) band emissions

Two computerized tilting-filter photometers and a programmable dual axis mirror system have been used to produce maps of OH rotational temperature and intensity. Each map consists of a square array of 121 sky positions. Significant horizontal structure is not generally observed in mesospheric OH(8-3) rotational temperature at Arecibo. However, there is evidence for the occasional occurence of a thermal wave just after evening twilight.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24225/1/0000484.pd

Climatologies of nighttime upper thermospheric winds measured by ground‐based Fabry‐Perot interferometers during geomagnetically quiet conditions: 1. Local time, latitudinal, seasonal, and solar cycle dependence

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94633/1/jgra18559.pd

Measurements of the dynamics and coupling of the equatorial thermosphere and the F-region ionosphere in Peru

Simultaneous Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) and Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) observations from Arequipa and Jicamarca, Peru, respectively, were obtained on 24 and 25 September 1986, during which there was substantial geomagnetic activity. Comparison of the neutral thermosphere's zonal velocity (measured by the FPI during twilight and night-time) and the F-region plasma's zonal drift (measured by the ISR throughout the day and night) indicate that at certain times, such as evening twilight, the two motions are not correlated, but that in the late night they are. The change from uncorrelated to correlated motion occurs as the ionospheric electron density decays, leading to a decreasing Pedersen conductivity which diminishes E-region shorting of the F-region dynamo, allowing the local thermospheric winds to control the F-region ionospheric drift.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27131/1/0000124.pd

DWM07 global empirical model of upper thermospheric storm-induced disturbance winds

We present a global empirical disturbance wind model (DWM07) that represents average geospace-storm-induced perturbations of upper thermospheric (200-600 km altitude) neutral winds. DWM07 depends on the following three parameters: magnetic latitude, magnetic local time, and the 3-h Kp geomagnetic activity index. The latitude and local time dependences are represented by vector spherical harmonic functions ( up to degree 10 in latitude and order 3 in local time), and the Kp dependence is represented by quadratic B-splines. DWM07 is the storm time thermospheric component of the new Horizontal Wind Model (HWM07), which is described in a companion paper. DWM07 is based on data from the Wind Imaging Interferometer on board the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, the Wind and Temperature Spectrometer on board Dynamics Explorer 2, and seven ground-based Fabry-Perot interferometers. The perturbation winds derived from the three data sets are in good mutual agreement under most conditions, and the model captures most of the climatological variations evident in the data