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JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH, VOL. 110, A02306, doi:10.1029/2004JA010566, 2005

The polar mesospheric cloud mass in the Arctic summer

Michael H. Stevens

E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research, Washington, D. C., USA


Christoph R. Englert

E.O. Hulburt Center for Space Research, Washington, D. C., USA


Matthew T. DeLand

Science Systems and Applications, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, USA


Mark Hervig

G & A Technical Software, Inc., Driggs, Idaho, USA


Abstract

We infer the polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) mass throughout the Arctic summer using results from two sets of satellite observations and a microphysical model. Solar backscatter ultraviolet (SBUV) PMC observations in July 1999 indicate a burst of activity persisting for ∼8 days after a space shuttle launch and averaging 262 ± 52 t near 4.7 local time. This mass is consistent with the propellant mass available from the shuttle's main engines and accounts for 22% of the total SBUV PMC mass over the season between 65° and 75°N. This is the first evidence that PMCs formed by space shuttle water exhaust can contribute significantly to both the number of observed PMCs and the total PMC mass in a season. In another approach, 11 years of observations by the Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) indicate that on average 90 ± 12 t of water ice is present near local midnight between 65° and 75°N. Using simultaneous HALOE water vapor observations, we find that a one-dimensional microphysical model reproduces the start and end of the PMC season but overpredicts the ice mass by about a factor of 1.8 when compared with the observations. This overprediction is within the time-dependent variability of ice formation and the uncertainties of temperature, water vapor, and vertical winds used to initialize the model.

Received 28 April 2004; accepted 21 December 2004; published 19 February 2005.

Keywords: mesospheric clouds; shuttle; water.

Index Terms: 0305 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Aerosols and particles (0345, 4801, 4906); 0360 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Radiation: transmission and scattering; 0320 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Cloud physics and chemistry; 0340 Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry; 3369 Atmospheric Processes: Thermospheric dynamics (0358).

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Citation: Stevens, M. H., C. R. Englert, M. T. DeLand, and M. Hervig (2005), The polar mesospheric cloud mass in the Arctic summer, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A02306, doi:10.1029/2004JA010566.