CEDAR Postdoc: Polar Mesospheric Cloud Structures as Evidence of Coupling Between the Upper and Lower Atmosphere

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。本项目是对极地中间层云（PMCs）的调查，利用卫星观测和模式模拟来确定云的出现频率、随纬度和经度的变化，以及通过波和大尺度环流对低层大气的可能响应。卫星数据来自美国宇航局AIM卫星上的CIPS仪器。AIM代表中间层冰的Aeronomy of Ice in Mesosphere；CIPS测量大气和云辐射。使用的模型是国家大气研究中心的WACCM模型（全大气群落气候模型）和海军研究实验室的NOGAPS ALPHA模型；NOGAPS ALPHA代表海军作战全球大气预测系统高级物理和高空模式。这两种模式都是全大气模式，从地面延伸到低层热层，并包括对流层中激发的波及其垂直传播到更高高度时的影响。卫星数据将被处理以确定PMC的出现，确定云中颗粒的大小，并确定形成PMC“冰空洞”所需的气象条件，即经常观测到的云中心的黑暗区域。这两种模式将吸收观测期间的实测气象参数，以便对中间层和低层热层的温度和风作出切合实际的预测。将对数据和模型结果进行联合分析，以分离出支持和不支持冰空洞出现的条件。该项目的更广泛影响包括支持一名新的女性研究人员，并为更好地了解极地大气和大气区域之间的耦合的雪松计划目标作出贡献。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This project is an investigation of Polar Mesospheric Clouds (PMCs) that uses both satellite observations and model simulations to determine the cloud occurrence frequency, variation with latitude and longitude, and the possible response to the lower atmosphere through waves and the large scale circulation. The satellite data are from the CIPS instrument on the NASA AIM satellite. AIM stands for Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere; CIPS measures atmospheric and cloud radiances. The models to be used are the National Center for Atmospheric Research WACCM model (Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model) and the Navy Research Laboratory's NOGAPS ALPHA model; NOGAPS ALPHA stands for Navy Operational Global Atmospheric Prediction System Advanced Level Physics and High Altitude Model . Both models are whole atmosphere models that extend from the ground to the lower thermosphere and include waves excited in the troposphere and their effects as they propagate vertically to higher altitudes. The satellite data will be processed to identify PMC occurrences, to determine the size of the particles in the clouds, and to identify the meteorological conditions necessary for formation of PMC ''ice voids'', dark regions in the centers of the clouds that are regularly observed. The two models will assimilate measured meteorological parameters during the observing period in order to provide realistic predictions of the temperatures and winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Joint analysis of the data and model results will be done to isolate the conditions that do and do not support the appearance of the ice voids. The broader impacts of the project include the support of a new female researcher and the contribution to the CEDAR program goals of better understanding of the polar atmosphere and the coupling between atmospheric regions.