First global observations of the mesospheric potassium layer
First global observations of the mesospheric potassium layer
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DOI：
10.1002/2014gl060801
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发表时间：
2014-08
影响因子：
5.2
通讯作者：
E. Dawkins;J. Plane;M. Chipperfield;W. Feng;J. Gumbel;J. Hedin;J. Höffner;J. Friedman
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
E. Dawkins;J. Plane;M. Chipperfield;W. Feng;J. Gumbel;J. Hedin;J. Höffner;J. Friedman
流星消融产生的金属物质是高层大气动力学和化学的有用示踪剂。在这些流星金属中，K是一个谜：在赤道以外的纬度，有限的激光雷达数据显示，K层显示出半年一次的季节性变化，而不是在其他金属（如Na和Fe）中看到的年度模式。在这里，我们提出了第一个近全球的K检索，其中K原子数密度分布来自于由Odin卫星上的光学光谱仪和红外成像仪系统光谱仪进行的日光测量。这种强有力的反演产生的密度剖面的典型层峰值误差为±15%和2公里的垂直网格分辨率。我们证明，这些检索到的剖面与可用的激光雷达数据相当，并首次表明这种不寻常的半年期行为在范围上接近全球。这个新的数据集有更广泛的应用，以提高对K化学和相关的高层大气过程的理解。
Metal species, produced by meteoric ablation, act as useful tracers of upper atmosphere dynamics and chemistry. Of these meteoric metals, K is an enigma: at extratropical latitudes, limited available lidar data show that the K layer displays a semiannual seasonal variability, rather than the annual pattern seen in other metals such as Na and Fe. Here we present the first near‐global K retrieval, where K atom number density profiles are derived from dayglow measurements made by the Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imager System spectrometer on board the Odin satellite. This robust retrieval produces density profiles with typical layer peak errors of ±15% and a 2 km vertical grid resolution. We demonstrate that these retrieved profiles compare well with available lidar data and show for the first time that the unusual semiannual behavior is near‐global in extent. This new data set has wider applications for improving understanding of the K chemistry and of related upper atmosphere processes.