UARS measurements and their Relationship to the understanding of Dynamics in the Mesosphere and Thermosphere

Details UARS measurements and their Relationship to the understanding of Dynamics in the Mesosphere and Thermosphere UARS measurements and their Relationship to the understanding of Dynamics in the Mesosphere and Thermosphere

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufm.a41d..03w&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #A41D-03

Computer Science

Sound

0300 Atmospheric Composition And Structure, 3332 Mesospheric Dynamics, 3359 Radiative Processes, 3369 Thermospheric Dynamics (0358), 3384 Waves And Tides

Scientific paper

The UARS measurements constitute the most detailed and extensive set of observations ever taken of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). These measurements have transformed our view of the MLT from what in some quarters in the mid-eighties was termed the ignorosphere - a region thought to be composed of uniform constituent distributions absent of strong dynamical influences - to what is now seen to be one of the more complex and and fascinating regions of the terrestrial atmosphere. This transformation came about primarily because of observations from the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) and the High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) although significant contributions were also made by the Improved Stratospheric and Mesospheric Sounder (ISAMS), the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) and the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE). Additional thermospheric measurements were taken by WINDII and the Particle Environment Monitor (PEM). These measurements have shown the MLT to be a region of strong dynamical variability. Firsts include long term global measurements of the tides and large scale planetary waves showing their seasonal variability, measurements of the annual cycle of the zonal mean flow, analyses of the wave forcing and dynamical balances suggesting deviations from gradient wind balance, and analyses of stationary planetary wave propagation indicating that both upward propagation and in situ generation of these waves are important. In addition, it became clear during the course of this mission that there are strong dynamical influences on the constituent distributions and these need to be understood when developing climatologies of the MLT. Although these advances are significant they show that gaps remain in our basic understanding of this region of the atmosphere. Questions remain about the momentum balances, energetics, constituent budgets and the role of gravity waves, questions which can only be resolved with future more sophisticated satellite missions.

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