Submitting Campus
Daytona Beach
Department
Physical Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication/Presentation Date
2016
Abstract/Description
We report the first measurement of nighttime atmospheric temperature and horizontal wind profiles in the lower thermosphere up to 140 km with the Na lidar at Andes Lidar Observatory in Cerro Pachón, Chile (30.25°S, 70.74°W), when enhanced thermospheric Na was observed. Temperature and horizontal wind were derived up to 140 km using various resolutions, with the lowest resolution of about 2.7 hr and 15 km above 130 km. Thus, the measurements span 60 km in vertical, more than double the traditional 25 km. On the night of 17 April 2015, the horizontal wind magnitude in the thermosphere exceeds 150 ms−1, consistent with past rocket measurements. The meridional wind shows a clear transition from the diurnal-tide-dominant mesopause to the semidiurnal-tide-dominant lower thermosphere. A lidar with a 100 times the power aperture product will be able to measure wind and temperature above 160 km and cover longer time span, providing key measurements for the study of atmosphere-space interactions in this region.
Publication Title
Geophysical Research Letters
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Grant or Award Name
NSF grants AGS-1229085, AGS-1136278, AGS-1136208, AGS-1110199, and AGS-1115249
Scholarly Commons Citation
Liu, A. Z., Y. Guo, F. Vargas, and G. R. Swenson (2016), First measurement of horizontal wind and temperature in the lower thermosphere (105–140 km) with a Na Lidar at Andes Lidar Observatory, Geophys. Res. Lett., 43, doi:10.1002/2016GL068461
