1. Structure and seasonal variations of the nocturnal mesospheric K layer at Arecibo
- Author
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Xiongbin Wu, Qihou Zhou, Xianchang Yue, and Jonathan S. Friedman
- Subjects
Atmospheric Science ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Oscillation ,Seasonality ,Atmospheric sciences ,medicine.disease ,01 natural sciences ,Geophysics ,Altitude ,Lidar ,Space and Planetary Science ,Abundance (ecology) ,Climatology ,0103 physical sciences ,Earth and Planetary Sciences (miscellaneous) ,medicine ,Environmental science ,Solstice ,Arecibo Observatory ,Maxima ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
We present the seasonal variations of the nocturnal mesospheric potassium (K) layer at Arecibo, Puerto Rico (18.35°N, 66.75°W) from 160 nights of K Doppler lidar observations between December 2003 and January 2010, during which the solar activity is mostly low. The background temperature is also measured simultaneously by the lidar and shows a strong semiannual oscillation with maxima occurring during equinoxes at all altitudes. The annual mean K density profile is approximately Gaussian with a peak altitude of 91.7 km. The K column abundance and the centroid height have strong semiannual variations, with maxima at the solstices. Both parameters are negatively correlated to the mean background temperature with a correlation coefficient
- Published
- 2017