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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 110,
D09S13,
doi:10.1029/2004JD004965,
2005
Vertical heat and constituent transport in the mesopause region by dissipating gravity waves at Maui, Hawaii (20.7°N), and
Starfire Optical Range, New Mexico (35°N)
Alan Z. Liu
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Chester S. Gardner
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, USA
Abstract
Vertical heat flux profiles induced by dissipating gravity waves in the mesopause region (85–100 km altitude) are derived
from Na lidar measurements of winds and temperatures at Maui (20.7°N, 156.3°W), Hawaii, and compared with earlier results
from Starfire Optical Range (SOR, 35.0°N, 106.5°W), New Mexico. The heat flux profile at SOR has a single downward maximum
of 2.25 ± 0.3 K m/s at 88 km, while the profile at Maui has two downward maxima of 1.25 ± 0.5 K m/s and 1.40 ± 0.5 K m/s at
87 and 95 km, respectively. The common maximum below 90 km can be attributed to high probability of convective instability.
Comparison of the horizontal wind shear suggests that the second maximum at 95 km at Maui may be associated with dynamic instability.
The measured Na flux and predicted Na flux based on measured heat flux at Maui agree well, further confirming earlier findings
using SOR data. The dynamical flux of atomic oxygen estimated from the heat flux is smaller at Maui compared with that at
SOR, but both are comparable to or larger than the eddy flux. The results also suggest that weaker gravity wave dissipation
at Maui may cause two opposite effects on the energy balance in the mesopause region, a reduced cooling from heat transport
and reduced chemical heating from atomic oxygen transport.
Received 28
April
2004;
accepted 9
November
2004;
published 29
January
2005.
Keywords: gravity wave dissipation;
heat flux;
Na and atomic oxygen flux.
Index Terms: 0341 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: constituent transport and chemistry (3334); 0342 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: energy deposition (3334); 0340 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry; 0322 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Constituent sources and sinks; 0310 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Airglow and aurora.
Subscriber Access to Full Article (Nonsubscribers may purchase for $9.00, Includes print PDF, file size: 446901 bytes)
Citation: Liu, A. Z., and C. S. Gardner
(2005),
Vertical heat and constituent transport in the mesopause region by dissipating gravity waves at Maui, Hawaii (20.7°N), and
Starfire Optical Range, New Mexico (35°N),
J. Geophys. Res.,
110,
D09S13,
doi:10.1029/2004JD004965.
Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.
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