Atmospheric Temperature Comparisons from Experimental SABER Sensor
Location
Salt Lake Community College
Start Date
5-7-2007 11:20 AM
Description
NASA’s TIMED satellite has been observing the upper atmosphere since January 2002. This satellite makes it possible to observe the Mesosphere Lower Thermosphere / Ionosphere (MLTI) region. This region is of great importance to the Earth’s climate. The observations of the SABER sensor aboard the TIMED satellite are used to deduce the atmospheric temperature in this region. These upper-atmospheric temperature data sets are derived using measurements from the CO2 channels aboard the SABER instrument. This data set is combined into pressure bins model the upper atmospheric temperature. Five years of data are used to identify global trends. Seasonal comparisons are made for atmospheric pressures between 10-2 and 10-4 millibars, and over a global range of latitudes and longitudes. These results are used to examine the long-term trends of the temperature during a portion of a solar cycle, and help to ascertain which factors affect the temperature trends. The solar F10.7 index is used to enable correlations to be obtained. This paper addresses these changes in temperature and how these results can help in modeling the atmosphere.
Atmospheric Temperature Comparisons from Experimental SABER Sensor
Salt Lake Community College
NASA’s TIMED satellite has been observing the upper atmosphere since January 2002. This satellite makes it possible to observe the Mesosphere Lower Thermosphere / Ionosphere (MLTI) region. This region is of great importance to the Earth’s climate. The observations of the SABER sensor aboard the TIMED satellite are used to deduce the atmospheric temperature in this region. These upper-atmospheric temperature data sets are derived using measurements from the CO2 channels aboard the SABER instrument. This data set is combined into pressure bins model the upper atmospheric temperature. Five years of data are used to identify global trends. Seasonal comparisons are made for atmospheric pressures between 10-2 and 10-4 millibars, and over a global range of latitudes and longitudes. These results are used to examine the long-term trends of the temperature during a portion of a solar cycle, and help to ascertain which factors affect the temperature trends. The solar F10.7 index is used to enable correlations to be obtained. This paper addresses these changes in temperature and how these results can help in modeling the atmosphere.