Remote sensing of gravity-wave intensity and temperature signatures at mesopause heights using the nightglow emissions

Michael J. Taylor; William R. Pendleton Jr.; S. H. Seo; Richard H. Picard

doi:10.1117/12.463369

18 April 2003 Remote sensing of gravity-wave intensity and temperature signatures at mesopause heights using the nightglow emissions

Michael J. Taylor, William R. Pendleton Jr., S. H. Seo, Richard H. Picard

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 4882, Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere VII; (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.463369
Event: International Symposium on Remote Sensing, 2002, Crete, Greece

Abstract

During the past four decades a variety of optical remote sensing techniques have revealed a rich spectrum of wave activity in the upper atmosphere. Many of these perturbations, with periodicites ranging from ~5 min to several hours and horizontal scales of a few ten's of km to several thousands km, are due to freely propagating buoyancy (or acoustic-gravity waves), and forced tidal oscillations. Optical observations of the spatial and temporal characteristics of these waves in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region (~80-100 km) are facilitated by several naturally occurring, vertically distinct nightglow layers. This paper describes the use of state-of-the-art ground-based CCD imaging techniques to detect these waves in intensity and temperature. All-sky (180°) image measurements from Bear Lake Observatory, Utah are used to illustrate the characteristics of small-scale, short period (< 1 hour) waves that are most frequently observed at MLT heights including a particular set of ducted wave motions, possibly associated with mesospheric bores. These results are then contrasted with measurements of mesospheric temperature made using a separate imaging system capable of determining induced temperature amplitudes of much larger-scale wave motions and investigating night-to-night and seasonal variability in mesospheric temperature.

Citation Download Citation

Michael J. Taylor, William R. Pendleton Jr., S. H. Seo, and Richard H. Picard "Remote sensing of gravity-wave intensity and temperature signatures at mesopause heights using the nightglow emissions", Proc. SPIE 4882, Remote Sensing of Clouds and the Atmosphere VII, (18 April 2003); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.463369

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