Dynamical origins of upper atmospheric variability

100 km附近的高层大气是一个受上下大气影响的复杂区域。从上面看，太阳紫外线辐射被吸收，分子分裂成原子，并去除电子形成离子。由此产生的化学物质产生气辉，可见光，可以使用地面上的光学仪器或从上面的空间感测。原子氧是气辉的长期驱动因素，因此可用作大气运动的示踪剂，为研究这些高度上的动态提供一种途径，其中部分使用了申请人设计的加拿大空间仪器（WINDII），该仪器于1991年至2003年在美国航天局卫星上飞行。自2001年以来，他的实验室开发的光谱气辉温度成像仪（SATI）位于加拿大北方的Resolute湾（74 N）的地面上，测量了高层大气的气辉和温度。冬季到冬季的大变化被发现是由太阳的变化，以及由东西风在赤道，一个显着的动力学影响。在冬季，气辉和温度的大的相关变化被发现起源于行星波，天气波，从下面来。人们还发现，87公里处中层上层的温度与22公里处平流层下层的温度相关。 这些发现将被用来理解这种变异性。建议将Resolute Bay数据集从2001年开始扩展到涵盖一个11年的太阳周期，同时通过大气模式探索上层中间层和下层平流层之间的耦合。将进一步分析1991年至2003年获得的卫星数据，并将利用其他卫星的数据。此外，申请人还参与设计和制造将在哈萨克斯坦航天器上飞行的气辉照相机，以确定地震前兆是否对气辉产生扰动。随着对气辉变率的了解，如果发现存在一种非常不寻常和重要的大气变率形式，就有可能提前探测到地震。

The upper atmosphere near 100 km is a complex region influenced by the atmosphere above and below. From above, solar ultraviolet radiation is absorbed, splitting molecules into atoms, and removing electrons to form ions. The resulting chemistry produces airglow, visible light that may be sensed using optical instrumentation on the ground below, or from space above. Atomic oxygen is a long-lived driver for airglow, and so may be used as a tracer for atmospheric motions, providing a way to study the dynamics at these altitudes, in part using a Canadian space instrument (WINDII) of the applicant's design flown on a NASA satellite from 1991 to 2003. A Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager (SATI) developed in his laboratory and located on the ground at Resolute Bay (74 N) in northern Canada has measured upper atmospheric airglow and temperature since 2001. Large winter to winter variations are found to be controlled by solar variation, as well as by the east-west wind at the equator, a remarkable dynamical influence. Large correlated variations in airglow and temperature during the winter are found to originate with planetary waves, weather waves, coming up from below. It was also discovered that the temperatures in the upper mesosphere at 87 km correlate with those at 22 km, in the lower stratosphere. These discoveries will be exploited in moving towards understanding this variability. It is proposed to extend the Resolute Bay dataset from its beginning in 2001 to cover one solar cycle of eleven years and at the same time to explore the coupling between the upper mesosphere and lower stratosphere through atmospheric models. The satellite data acquired from 1991 to 2003 will be further analyzed and data from other satellites will be employed as well. In addition, the applicant is involved in the design and fabrication of an airglow camera to be flown on a Kazakh spacecraft, to determine if earthquake precursors produce perturbations in the airglow. With the understanding of airglow variability that has been established, it will be possible to detect earthquakes in advance, a very unusual and important form of atmospheric variability if it is found to exist.