1. Long‐Term Density Trend in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere From Occultations of the Crab Nebula With X‐Ray Astronomy Satellites.
- Author
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Katsuda, Satoru, Enoto, Teruaki, Lommen, Andrea N., Mori, Koji, Motizuki, Yuko, Nakajima, Motoki, Ruhl, Nathaniel C., Sato, Kosuke, Stober, Gunter, Tashiro, Makoto S., Terada, Yukikatsu, and Wood, Kent S.
- Subjects
CRAB Nebula ,THERMOSPHERE ,MESOSPHERE ,ATMOSPHERIC carbon dioxide ,COOLING of water ,MIDDLE atmosphere ,X-ray astronomy ,OCCULTATIONS (Astronomy) - Abstract
We present long‐term density trends of the Earth's upper atmosphere at altitudes between 71 and 116 km, based on atmospheric occultations of the Crab Nebula observed with X‐ray astronomy satellites, ASCA, RXTE, Suzaku, NuSTAR, and Hitomi. The combination of the five satellites provides a time period of 28 years from 1994 to 2022. To suppress seasonal and latitudinal variations, we concentrate on the data taken in autumn (49 < doy < 111) and spring (235 < doy < 297) in the northern hemisphere with latitudes of 0°–40°. With this constraint, local times are automatically limited either around noon or midnight. We obtain four sets (two seasons × two local times) of density trends at each altitude layer. We take into account variations due to a linear trend and the 11‐year solar cycle using linear regression techniques. Because we do not see significant differences among the four trends, we combine them to provide a single vertical profile of trend slopes. We find a negative density trend of roughly −5%/decade at every altitude. This is in reasonable agreement with inferences from settling rate of the upper atmosphere. In the 100–110‐km altitude, we found an exceptionally high density decline of about −12%/decade. This peak may be the first observational evidence for strong cooling due to water vapor and ozone near 110 km, which was first identified in a numerical simulation by Akmaev et al. (2006, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2006.03.008). Further observations and numerical simulations with suitable input parameters are needed to establish this feature. Plain Language Summary: Numerical simulations have shown that, while an increase of greenhouse gases such as CO2 in the atmosphere causes heating of the troposphere (near surface), it causes cooling of the middle and upper atmosphere, which is the so‐called "greenhouse cooling." The greenhouse cooling should result in atmospheric contraction and consequently a temporal density decrease at a fixed height. However, observational evidence for the density decrease has been scarce in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT: 80–110 km), owing to difficulty in measuring the density in this region. Here, we present the first direct measurements of long‐term variations for combined N and O atom number density in the MLT, based on atmospheric occultations of the Crab Nebula observed with X‐ray astronomy satellites. The combination of five X‐ray astronomy satellites, ASCA, RXTE, Suzaku, NuSTAR, and Hitomi, allows us to explore density trends for a long period from 1994 to 2022. We take into account variations due to a temporal linear trend and the 11‐year solar cycle, using linear regression techniques. As a result, we find a negative density trend of roughly −5%/decade at every altitude, with a local minimum of −12%/decade near 105 km. This is in reasonable agreement with the state‐of‐the‐art numerical simulations. Key Points: Time series of combined O and N densities are measured in the MLT, based on atmospheric occultations of the Crab Nebula using X‐ray astronomy satellitesThe density is decreasing everywhere, with a local minimum of −12%/decade near 105 kmThe local minimum in density trends may be due to strong cooling by water vapor and ozone, as was first predicted by Akmaev et al. (2006, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2006.03.008) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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