Feng, W orcid.org/0000-0002-9907-9120, Kaifler, B, Marsh, DR et al. (4 more authors) (2017) Impacts of a sudden stratospheric warming on the mesospheric metal layers. Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 162. pp. 162-171. ISSN 1364-6826
Abstract
We report measurements of atomic sodium, iron and temperature in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) made by ground-based lidars at the ALOMAR observatory (69°N, 16°E) during a major sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event that occurred in January 2009. The high resolution temporal observations allow the responses of the Na and Fe layers to the SSW at high northern latitudes to be investigated. A significant cooling with temperatures as low as 136 K around 90 km was observed on 22 − 23 January 2009, along with substantial depletions of the Na and Fe layers (an ~80% decrease in the column abundance with respect to the mean over the observation period). The Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) incorporating the chemistry of Na, Fe, Mg and K, and nudged with reanalysis data below 60 km, captures well the timing of the SSW, although the extent of the cooling and consequently the depletion in the Na and Fe layers is slightly underestimated. The model also predicts that the perturbations to the metal layers would have been observable even at equatorial latitudes. The modelled Mg layer responds in a very similar way to Na and Fe, whereas the K layer is barely affected by the SSW because of the enhanced conversion of K+ ions to K atoms at the very low temperatures.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). |
Keywords: | Sudden stratospheric warming; Mesospheric metal layers; Lidar observations; Whole atmosphere model |
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) > National Centre for Atmos Science (NCAS) (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Physical Chemistry (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 13 Feb 2017 09:29 |
Last Modified: | 29 Nov 2017 12:58 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2017.02.004 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.jastp.2017.02.004 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:112215 |