Bremen 2017 – scientific programme
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UP: Fachverband Umweltphysik
UP 21: Atmosphäre - Mesosphäre
UP 21.3: Talk
Friday, March 17, 2017, 12:15–12:30, GW2 B3009
O2(1Σ) and O2(1Δ) volume emission rates in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere using SCIAMACHY MLT limb scans — •Amirmahdi Zarboo1, Stefan Bender1, Miriam Sinnhuber1, John Burrows2, and Johannes Orphal1 — 1Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany — 2University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Photolysis of ozone by solar radiation and the self-reaction of atomic oxygen produce electronically excited species which deexcite via quenching and radiation, forming the many lines of the oxygen airglow. This airglow contains information about ozone and atomic oxygen as well as other photochemical processes in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region such as, e.g., solar and chemical heating rates. We retrieve volume emission rates (VER) from the airglow of both daytime and twilight O2(1Σ) and O2(1Δ) emissions in the MLT with the SCIAMACHY special MLT mode on-board the European Space Agency Envisat satellite.
We analyze the daily mean latitudinal distributions and the time series of the retrieved VERs in the altitude range from 53 to 149 km. The mesospheric maxima (>80 km) correlate with the maximum of solar irradiance, with pronounced maximal values during high-latitude summer for O2(1Δ). O2(1Σ) shows additional high values during high-latitude winter and spring which may be related to downwelling of atomic oxygen, in particular after strong sudden stratospheric warmings (SSW). These data will also be used to infer chemical characteristics such as temperature, ozone abundances, and solar heating rates.