Estimating the impact of the 1991 Pinatubo eruption on mesospheric temperature by analyzing HALOE (UARS) temperature data

The Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991 had a severe impact on the Earth system with a well-documented warming of the tropical lower stratosphere and a general cooling of the surface. This study focuses on the impact of this event on the mesosphere by analyzing solar occultation temperature data from the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) instrument on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS). Previous analysis of lidar temperature data found positive temperature anomalies of up to 12.9 K in the upper mesosphere that peaked in 1993 and were attributed to the Pinatubo eruption. Fitting the HALOE data according to a previously published method indicates a maximum warming of the mesosphere region of 3.3 K and does not confirm significantly higher values reported for that lidar time series. An alternative fit is proposed that assumes a more rapid response of the mesosphere to the volcanic event and approximates the signature of the Pinatubo with an exponential decay function having an e-folding time of 6 months. It suggests a maximum warming of 5.5 K if the mesospheric perturbation is assumed to reach its peak 4 month after the eruption. We conclude that the HALOE time series probably captures the decay of a Pinatubo-induced mesospheric warming at the beginning of its measurement period.

Nonlinear Simulations of GravityWave Tunneling and Breaking over Auckland Island

Horizontally dispersing gravity waves with horizontal wavelengths of 30 – 40 km were observed at mesospheric altitudes over Auckland Island by the airborne advanced mesospheric temperature mapper during a DEEPWAVE research flight on 14 July 2014. A 3D nonlinear compressible model is used to determine which propagation conditions enabled gravity wave penetration into the mesosphere and how the resulting instability characteristics led to widespread momentum deposition. Results indicate that linear tunneling through the polar night jet enabled quick gravity wave propagation from the surface up to the mesopause, while subsequent instability processes reveal large rolls that formed in the negative shear above the jet maximum and led to significant momentum deposition as they descended. This study suggests that gravity wave tunneling is a viable source for this case and other deep propagation events reaching the mesosphere and lower thermosphere.

Polar Middle Atmospheric Responses to Medium Energy Electron (MEE) Precipitation Using Numerical Model Simulations

Energetic particle precipitation (EPP) is known to be an important source of chemical changes in the polar middle atmosphere in winter. Recent modeling studies further suggest that chemical changes induced by EPP can also cause dynamic changes in the middle atmosphere. In this study, we investigated the atmospheric responses to the precipitation of medium-to-high energy electrons (MEEs) over the period 2005–2013 using the Specific Dynamics Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (SD-WACCM). Our results show that the MEE precipitation significantly increases the amounts of NOx and HOx, resulting in mesospheric and stratospheric ozone losses by up to 60% and 25% respectively during polar winter. The MEE-induced ozone loss generally increases the temperature in the lower mesosphere but decreases the temperature in the upper mesosphere with large year-to-year variability, not only by radiative effects but also by adiabatic effects. The adiabatic effects by meridional circulation changes may be dominant for the mesospheric temperature changes. In particular, the meridional circulation changes occasionally act in opposite ways to vary the temperature in terms of height variations, especially at around the solar minimum period with low geomagnetic activity, which cancels out the temperature changes to make the average small in the polar mesosphere for the 9-year period.

Variations in mesospheric temperature during polar mesospheric summer echoes.

The behavior of the ordinary radio wave amplitude at the frequency of 2.66 MHz of the partial reflection radar of the Polar Geophysical Institute (Tumanny observatory, Murmansk region, 69.0N, 35.7E) during the appearance of the polar mesospheric summer echoes on August 15, 2015 was considered. Using of radio physical method from the spectra of the amplitude at different heights the mesospheric temperature profile was calculated for the considered data. Significant reductionof temperature values near the heights of the mesopause corresponded to sharp changes in the amplitude spectra of the ordinary wave.

Mesospheric anomalous diffusion during noctilucent cloud scenarios

The Andenes specular meteor radar shows meteor trail diffusion rates increasing on average by about 10 % at times and locations where a lidar observes noctilucent clouds (NLCs). This high-latitude effect has been attributed to the presence of charged NLC after exploring possible contributions from thermal tides. To make this claim, the current study evaluates data from three stations at high, middle, and low latitudes for the years 2012 to 2016 to show that NLC influence on the meteor trail diffusion is independent of thermal tides. The observations also show that the meteor trail diffusion enhancement during NLC cover exists only at high latitudes and near the peaks of NLC layers. This paper discusses a number of possible explanations for changes in the regions with NLCs and leans towards the hypothesis that the relative abundance of background electron density plays the leading role. A more accurate model of the meteor trail diffusion around NLC particles would help researchers determine mesospheric temperature and neutral density profiles from meteor radars at high latitudes.

Thermal structure of the mesopause region during the WADIS-2 rocket campaign

This paper presents simultaneous temperature measurements by three independent instruments during the WADIS-2 rocket campaign in northern Norway (69∘ N, 14∘ E) on 5 March 2015. Vertical profiles were measured in situ with the CONE instrument. Continuous mobile IAP Fe lidar (Fe lidar) measurements during a period of 24 h, as well as horizontally resolved temperature maps by the Utah State University (USU) Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) in the mesopause region, are analysed. Vertical and horizontal temperature profiles by all three instruments are in good agreement. A harmonic analysis of the Fe lidar measurements shows the presence of waves with periods of 24, 12, 8, and 6 h. Strong waves with amplitudes of up to 10 K at 8 and 6 h are found. The 24 and 12 h components play only a minor role during these observations. In contrast only a few short periodic gravity waves are found. Horizontally resolved temperatures measured with the AMTM in the hydroxyl (OH) layer are used to connect the vertical temperature profiles. In the field of view of 200 km×160 km only small deviations from the horizontal mean of the order of 5 K are found. Therefore only weak gravity wave signatures occurred. This suggests horizontal structures of more than 200 km. A comparison of Fe lidar, rocket-borne measurements, and AMTM temperatures indicates an OH centroid altitude of about 85 km.