edu.ucar.opensky::articles:18787 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T02:47:52.088521 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7qf8vk4 Solar cycle response and long-term trends in the mesospheric metal layers 2016-07-01T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7qf8vk4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022522 Dawkins, E. C. M. author Plane, J. M. C. author Chipperfield, M. P. author Feng, W. author Marsh, Daniel author Höffner, J. author Janches, D. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher The meteoric metal layers (Na, Fe, and K)which form as a result of the ablation of incoming meteorsact as unique tracers for chemical and dynamical processes that occur within the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere region. In this work, we examine whether these metal layers are sensitive indicators of decadal long-term changes within the upper atmosphere. Output from a whole-atmosphere climate model is used to assess the response of the Na, K, and Fe layers across a 50year period (1955-2005). At short timescales, the K layer has previously been shown to exhibit a very different seasonal behavior compared to the other metals. Here we show that this unusual behavior is also exhibited at longer timescales (both the similar to psi 11year solar cycle and 50year periods), where K displays a much more pronounced response to atmospheric temperature changes than either Na or Fe. The contrasting solar cycle behavior of the K and Na layers predicted by the model is confirmed using satellite and lidar observations for the period 2004-2013. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2016 American Geophysical Union. None eng geoscientificInformation