Dawkins, ECM, Plane, JMC orcid.org/0000-0003-3648-6893, Chipperfield, MP orcid.org/0000-0002-6803-4149
et al. (4 more authors)
(2016)
Solar cycle response and long-term trends in the mesospheric metal layers.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 121 (7).
pp. 7153-7165.
ISSN 2169-9380
Abstract
The meteoric metal layers (Na, Fe, and K)—which form as a result of the ablation of incoming meteors—act as unique tracers for chemical and dynamical processes that occur within the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere region. In this work, we examine whether these metal layers are sensitive indicators of decadal long-term changes within the upper atmosphere. Output from a whole-atmosphere climate model is used to assess the response of the Na, K, and Fe layers across a 50 year period (1955–2005). At short timescales, the K layer has previously been shown to exhibit a very different seasonal behavior compared to the other metals. Here we show that this unusual behavior is also exhibited at longer timescales (both the ~11 year solar cycle and 50 year periods), where K displays a much more pronounced response to atmospheric temperature changes than either Na or Fe. The contrasting solar cycle behavior of the K and Na layers predicted by the model is confirmed using satellite and lidar observations for the period 2004–2013.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2016 The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Environment (Leeds) > School of Earth and Environment (Leeds) > Inst for Climate & Atmos Science (ICAS) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Physical Chemistry (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 Jul 2016 09:54 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:09 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022522 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Geophysical Union |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/2016JA022522 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:102274 |