Identification

Title

Atomic hydrogen in the mesopause region derived from SABER: Algorithm theoretical basis, measurement uncertainty, and results

Abstract

Atomic hydrogen (H) is a fundamental component in the photochemistry and energy balance of the terrestrial mesopause region (80-100 km). H is generated primarily by photolysis of water vapor and participates in a highly exothermic reaction with ozone. This reaction is a significant source of heat in the mesopause region and also creates highly vibrationally excited hydroxyl (OH) from which the Meinel band radiative emission features originate. Concentrations (cm-3) and volume mixing ratios of H are derived from observations of infrared emission from the OH vibration-rotation bands near 2.0 µm made by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on the NASA Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics satellite. The algorithms for deriving day and night H are described herein. Day and night concentrations exhibit excellent agreement between 87 and 95 km. SABER H results also exhibit good agreement with observations from the Solar Mesosphere Explorer made nearly 30 years ago. An apparent inverse dependence on the solar cycle is observed in the SABER H concentrations, with the H increasing as solar activity decreases. This increase is shown to be primarily due to the temperature dependence of various reaction rate coefficients for H photochemistry. The SABER H data, coupled with SABER atomic oxygen, ozone, and temperature, enable tests of mesospheric photochemistry and energetics in atmospheric models, studies of formation of polar mesospheric clouds, and studies of atmospheric evolution via escape of hydrogen. These data and studies are made possible by the wide range of parameters measured simultaneously by the SABER instrument.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

http://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7vt1t1x

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2014-03-27T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

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Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact