Tidal associated temperature disturbances observed at the middle atmosphere (30–65 km) by a Rayleigh lidar at 23°S

A lidar has been operated in São José dos Campos, Brazil (23.2°S, 45.8°W) since 1972, mainly dedicated to the study of mesospheric sodium at the 589 nm resonant line. The molecular Rayleigh scattering can also be used provided we limit the height to ∼75 km where the sodium scattering begins. Nevertheless, the weak signal obtained only permits the determination of density and temperature profiles by accumulating a large number of shots giving only nocturnal average profiles. Temporal variations in density and temperature on the scale of hours can however, be obtained by performing a superposed epoch analysis for a given time interval and covering a period of several days. In this way we obtained hourly mean profiles grouped by months, seasons and overall, with data acquired from 1993 to 2004. The difference between the hourly temperatures and the nocturnal means shows for some months, with enough data coverage, downward propagating structures that apparently have tidal origin. The seasonal averages show a recurrent feature with high temperatures before and low temperatures after midnight above 50 km. Some similarity is found with the GSWM model, but the observed temperature amplitudes are twice of that for the model.     

Nusselt number for convection driven by tidal and radiogenic heating

The ‘traditional’ formulas giving the Nusselt number Nu as a function of Rayleigh number Ra cannot be used for low and moderate values of Ra. Moreover, the recent progress in 3D numerical modeling makes possible to determine the Nusselt number Nu as a function of Rayleigh number Ra for convection driven by radiogenic and tidal heating. We found that for low and moderate Ra: Nu(Ra) = ε(Ra+ξ)^λ where λ depends on rheology and boundary conditions, ε depends only on the mode of heating, and ξ = ε^−1/λ · Nu(Ra) makes possible to develop a parameterized theory of convection in medium size icy satellites. We also indicate some differences between convection driven by tidal and radiogenic heating and convection driven exclusively by radiogenic heating.     

Mesospheric doppler wind measurements from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)

This paper describes a microwave limb technique for measuring Doppler wind in the Earth’s mesosphere. The research algorithm has been applied to Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) 118.75 GHz measurements where the O₂ Zeeman lines are resolved by a digital autocorrelation spectrometer. A precision of ∼17 m/s for the line-of-sight (LOS) wind is achieved at 80–92 km, which corresponds to radiometric noise during 1/6 s integration time. The LOS winds from Aura MLS are mostly in the meridional direction at low- and mid-latitudes with vertical resolution of ∼8 km. This microwave Doppler technique has potential to obtain useful winds down to ∼40 km of the Earth’s atmosphere if measurements from other MLS frequencies (near H₂O, O₃, and CO lines) are used. Initial analyses show that the MLS winds from the 118.75 GHz measurements agree well with the TIDI (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Doppler Interferometer) winds for the perturbations induced by a strong quasi 2-day wave (QTDW) in January 2005. Time series of MLS winds reveal many interesting climatological and planetary wave features, including the diurnal, semidiurnal tides, and the QTDW. Interactions between the tides and the QTDW are clearly evident, indicating possible large tidal structural changes after the QTDW events dissipate.     

Nonlinear Interactions between the Quasi 5-day Wave and Tides Based on Meteor Radar Observations at Maui

Nonlinear interactions between the quasi 5-day wave and tides based on meteor radar observation in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere(MLT) at Maui are studied in this paper.Strong sum interaction between quasi 5-day wave and diurnal tide,and evident difference interaction between quasi 5-day wave and semidiurnal tide are observed during the time of attention.However,their difference and sum counterparts are clearly weaker.The secondary waves generated from those interactions beat with the tide and show intense modulation at the period of 5 days which confirms the existence of their interactions.Additionally,correlation coefficients among these waves are calculated to further explore their interactions and find that they can persist for several days although they are highly intermittent.The energy exchange among these waves can be reversible during the observational time.The periods when the significant difference interaction between the quasi 5-day wave and semidiurnal tide occur are much shorter than those when the significant sum interaction between the quasi 5-day wave and diurnal tide occur.Moreover,these two strong interactions can take place simultaneously.In generally,this study provides the proof of nonlinear interactions between quasi 5-day wave and tides which were seldom reported before.     

Measuring tidal deformations at Europa’s surface

Key information on Europa’s interior can be gained by monitoring tidally-induced surface deformations from orbiting and landed spacecraft. Such observations would provide constraints on the thickness and rheology of Europa’s ice and liquid water layer, being thus an important tool to characterize basic physical properties of the satellite’s putative subsurface water ocean. Focusing on the outer ice-I layer we will present relations between the interior of Europa and key tidal parameters that can be retrieved from an instrument suite monitoring tidally-induced changes of local gravity, tilt, latitude and strain at the surface. A most promising approach would involve laser altimetry and gravitational field observations from an orbiting spacecraft combined with monitoring of tidally-induced gravity and tilt changes at the surface. However, tidal measurements at the surface may be significantly impeded by instrumental drift, instrument coupling to the surface, local sources of noise and the presumably short life-time of the instruments due to the harsh radiation environment.     

Longitudinal distribution of thermospheric densities and ionization rates in the upper atmosphere of Mars at mid-latitude using MGS ACC data

The Accelerometer Experiment (ACC) onboard Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) measured 1600 density profiles in the upper atmosphere of Mars during aerobraking. These measurements reveal large-scale and small-scale structure in the thermosphere of Mars. Here, the measurements of mass density for 115 orbits (#P0670–P0789) from November 1 to 30, 1998, under spring equinox and medium solar activity conditions (average F_10.7 ∼ 137) during phase 2 of the aerobraking in the thermosphere of Mars at different altitudes and longitudes are presented for northern mid-latitude (17–42°N) in the dayside atmosphere using ACC onboard MGS. From these mass densities, the neutral densities of different gases are derived from their mixing ratios. Using these neutral densities, the longitudinal distribution of photoionization rates and photoelectron impact ionization rates are calculated at wavelength range 1–102.57 nm due to EUV and soft X-ray radiation under photochemical controlled region using Analytical Yield Spectrum approach (AYS). These conditions are appropriate for MGS Phase 2 aerobraking period from which the accelerometer data is used. Under the photochemical equilibrium condition, the electron density near the peak varies as the square root of the total peak ionization rate. Using this fact, an attempt is being made to estimate the mean primary and secondary peak electron density by averaging the longitudinal variations of total peak ionization rates in the northern mid-latitude (17–42°N) ionosphere of Mars, as there is no radio science measurement at this latitude region by MGS.     

A Simulation of the Mid-and Low-latitude Ionospheric Electric Fields

A theoretical model of ionospheric electric fields at mid- and low-latitudes is developed. In the geomagnetic dipolar coordinate system, the ionospheric dynamo equations were solved, and the ionospheric electric potential and electric field were derived respectively. Major parameters for the model inputs, such as the neutral winds, the densities and temperatures of electron, ions and neutrals, are obtained from empirical models. The global ionospheric electrical potential and field at mid- and low-latitudes derived from our model are largely in agreement with the results presented by other authors and the empirical model. Using our model, it is found that the diurnal component of the HWM93 wind mainly contributed to the formation of the vertical electric field, while the semidiurnal component mainly contributed to the zonal electric field. Finally, by adjustment of the input F region winds and conductivities, most discrepancies between our model and the empirical one can be eliminated, and it is proved that the F region dynamo is the most significant contribution to the electric fields.      

中纬度冬季低热层潮汐非线性相互作用的MF雷达观测

采用武汉(30°N,114°E)MF雷达在2001年冬季的风场观测数据研究中纬度低热层大气潮汐之间的二阶非线性相互作用.经向风场的Lomb-Scargle归一化振幅谱表明,周日、半日和8 h潮汐是中纬冬季中层顶区域占优势的大气扰动;此外6 h潮汐也清晰可见.双相干谱分析揭示大多数显著的双相干谱峰代表潮汐谐振分量之间的相位互相关或单个潮汐分量的自相关.对随时间变化的潮汐垂直波长的比较发现,实际观测的8h潮汐垂直波长与假定的由观测的24 h潮汐和12 h潮汐非线性相互作用产生的8 h潮汐的理论垂直波长具有明显的一致性.在94.0～98.0km高度范围,周日、半日和8h潮汐之间不仅存在明显的相位相关和垂直波数相关,且它们的振幅随时间变化也显示出振荡幅值相近、振荡相位同步或反相的相关性,表明它们之间已经发生了二阶非线性相互作用.但是在94.0 km以下,三个潮汐分量之间的各种相关性随高度的下降变得越来越弱,因此潮汐二阶相互作用更可能是一种局地和暂态的现象.      

Long term changes of altimeter range and geophysical corrections at altimetry calibration sites

Accurate sea level trend determination is fundamentally related to calibration of both the instrument as well as to investigate if there are linear trends in the set of standard geophysical and range corrections applied to the sea level observations. Long term changes in range corrections can leak into the observed sea level record and be interpreted as part of the sea level trend. Particularly if these exhibit anomalous trend close to the satellite calibration sites.     

First observation of upper mesospheric semi annual oscillations using ground based airglow measurements from Indian low latitudes

We summarize two years of Mesosphere Lower Thermosphere Photometer (MLTP) operation of mesospheric OH and O₂ emission monitoring. The deduced mesospheric OH and O₂ temperatures show large variability. Nightly temperature variations over Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E) are dominated by the short period wave features, while tidal amplitudes are relatively small. Our measurements are the first to report a long period seasonal variation at two upper mesospheric altitudes simultaneously over the Indian sector. Our observations reveal the presence of a dominant semi-annual oscillation (∼6 months periodicity) together with a shorter period (∼2.5  months periodicity) oscillation in both OH and O₂ data.