Volumes and Issues  Contents of Issue 1  
Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 10, 2005-2029, 2010
www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/10/2005/2010/
doi:10.5194/acpd-10-2005-2010
© Author(s) 2010. This work is distributed
under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.


Daytime ozone and temperature variations in the mesosphere: a comparison between SABER observations and HAMMONIA model

S. Dikty1, H. Schmidt2, M. Weber1, C. von Savigny1, and M. G. Mlynczak3
1Institute of Environmental Physics, Bremen, Germany
2Max-Planck-Institute for Meteorology, Hamburg, Germany
3NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA, USA

Abstract. The scope of this paper is to investigate the latest version 1.07 SABER (Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry) tropical ozone from the 1.27 μm as well as from the 9.6 μm retrieval and temperature data with respect to daytime variations in the upper mesosphere. For a better understanding of the processes involved we compare these daytime variations to the output of the three-dimensional general circulation and chemistry model HAMMONIA (Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere). The results show good agreement for ozone. The amplitude of daytime variations is in both cases approximately 60% of the daytime mean. During equinox the daytime maximum ozone abundance is for both, the observations and the model, higher than during solstice, especially above 80 km. We also use the HAMMONIA output of daytime variation patterns of several other different trace gas species, e.g., water vapor and atomic oxygen, to discuss the daytime pattern in ozone. In contrast to ozone, temperature data show little daytime variations between 65 and 90 km and their amplitudes are on the order of less than 1.5%. In addition, SABER and HAMMONIA temperatures show significant differences above 80 km.

Discussion Paper (PDF, 4489 KB)   Interactive Discussion (Closed, 4 Comments)   Final Revised Paper (ACP)   

Citation: Dikty, S., Schmidt, H., Weber, M., von Savigny, C., and Mlynczak, M. G.: Daytime ozone and temperature variations in the mesosphere: a comparison between SABER observations and HAMMONIA model, Atmos. Chem. Phys. Discuss., 10, 2005-2029, doi:10.5194/acpd-10-2005-2010, 2010.   Bibtex   EndNote   Reference Manager    XML