Cooling and Contraction of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere From 2002 to 2021

Cooling and Contraction of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere From 2002 to 2021

© 2022 The Authors. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

Bibliographische Detailangaben
Veröffentlicht in:Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres : JGR. - 1998. - 127(2022), 22 vom: 27. Nov., Seite e2022JD036767
1. Verfasser: Mlynczak, Martin G (VerfasserIn)
Weitere Verfasser: Hunt, Linda A, Garcia, Rolando R, Harvey, V Lynn, Marshall, Benjamin T, Yue, Jia, Mertens, Christopher J, Russell, James M 3rd
Format: Online-Aufsatz
Sprache:English
Veröffentlicht: 2022
Zugriff auf das übergeordnete Werk:Journal of geophysical research. Atmospheres : JGR
Schlagworte:Journal Article contracting atmosphere global change lower thermopshere mesosphere solar cycle upper atmosphere cooling
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:© 2022 The Authors. This article has been contributed to by U.S. Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.
We examine the thermal structure of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) using observations from 2002 through 2021 from the SABER instrument on the NASA TIMED satellite. These observations show that the MLT has significantly cooled and contracted between the years 2002 and 2019 (the year of the most recent solar minimum) due to a combination of a decline in the intensity of the 11-year solar cycle and increasing carbon dioxide (CO2.) During this time the thickness of atmosphere between the 1  and 10-4 hPa pressure surfaces (approximately 48 and 105 km) has contracted by 1,333 m, of which 342 m is attributed to increasing CO2. All other pressure surfaces in the MLT have similarly contracted. We further postulate that the MLT in the two most recent solar minima (2008-2009 and 2019-2020) was very likely the coldest and thinnest since the beginning of the Industrial Age. The sensitivity of the MLT to a doubling of CO2 is shown to be -7.5 K based on observed trends in temperature and growth rates of CO2. Colder temperatures observed at 10-4 hPa in 2019 than in the prior solar minimum in 2009 may be due to a decrease of 5% in solar irradiance in the Schumann-Runge band spectral region (175-200 nm)
Beschreibung:Date Revised 09.09.2024
published: Print-Electronic
Citation Status PubMed-not-MEDLINE
ISSN:2169-897X
DOI:10.1029/2022JD036767