Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussions www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net 1680-7367 1680-7375 9 5 2009 10.5194/acpd-9-18705-2009 http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/18705/2009/ http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/18705/2009/acpd-9-18705-2009.html http://www.atmos-chem-phys-discuss.net/9/18705/2009/acpd-9-18705-2009.pdf 18705 18726 2009-09-10 Metal concentrations in the upper atmosphere during meteor showers J. Correira john.correira@gmail.com A. C. Aikin J. M. Grebowsky J. P. Burrows The Catholic University of America, Institute for Astrophysics and Computational Sciences Department of Physics, Washington, DC 20064, USA NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 695, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA Institute of Environmental Physics (IUP), University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany now at: Computational Physics, Inc., Springfield, Virginia, USA Using the nadir-viewing Global Ozone Measuring Experiment (GOME) UV/VIS spectrometer on the ERS-2 satellite, we investigate short term variations in the vertical magnesium column densities in the atmosphere and any connection to possible enhanced mass deposition during a meteor shower. Time-dependent mass influx rates are derived for all the major meteor showers using published estimates of mass density and temporal profiles of meteor showers. An average daily sporadic background mass flux rate is also calculated and used as a baseline against which calculated shower mass flux rates are compared. These theoretical mass flux rates are then compared with GOME derived metal vertical column densities of Mg and Mg⁺ from the years 1996–2001. There is no correlation between theoretical mass flux rates and changes in the Mg and Mg⁺ metal column densities. A possible explanation for the lack of a shower related increase in metal concentrations may be differences in the mass regimes dominating the average background mass flux and shower mass flux. Aikin, A C., Grebowsky, J M., Burrows, J P., Correira, J., and Pesnell, W D.: Temporal evolution of the vertical content of metallic ion and neutral species, J. Atmos. Solar-Terr. Phys., 67, 1238–1244, \doi10.1016/j.jastp.2005.06.012, 2005. Campbell-Brown, M D. and Jones, J.: Annual variation of sporadic radar meteor rates, MNRAS, 367, 709–716, \doi10.1111/j.1365-2966.2005.09974.x, 2006. Ceplecha, Z., Borovi\v cka, J., Elford, W G., Revelle, D O., Hawkes, R L., Porub\v can, V., and \v Simek, M.: Meteor Phenomena and Bodies, Space Science Revi., 84, 327–471, \doi10.1023/A:1005069928850, 1998. Chandrasekhar, S.: Radiative Transfer, Dover Publications, New York, USA, 1960. Correira, J., Aikin, A C., Grebowsky, J M., Pesnell, W D., and Burrows, J P.: Seasonal variations of magnesium atoms in the mesosphere-thermosphere, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L06103, \doi10.1029/2007GL033047, 2008. Grün, E., Gustafson, B A S., Dermott, S., and Fechtig, H.: Interplanetary Dust, Interplanetary Dust, edited by:~Grün, E., ~Gustafson, B. A. S.,~Dermott, S., and~Fechtig, H., in:~Astronomy and Astrophysics Library 2001, 804 pp., ISBN: 3-540-42067-3 Berlin, Springer, 2001., 2001. Hawkes, L R.: Television meteors (Invited), in: Meteoroids and their Parent Bodies, edited by: Stohl, J. and Williams, I P., 227 pp., 1993. Hawkes, R L. and Jones, J.: Electro-optical meteor observation techniques and results, QJRAS, 27, 569–589, 1986. Hughes, D.: Meteors and cosmic dust, Endeavour, 21, 31–35, 1997. Hughes, D W. and McBride, N.: The mass of meteoroid streams, MNRAS, 240, 73–79, 1989. Jenniskens, P.: Meteor stream activity I. The annual streams, Astron. Astrophys., 287, 990–1013, 1994. McNeil, W J., Dressler, R A., and Murad, E.: Impact of a major meteor storm on Earth's ionosphere: A modeling study, J. Geophys. Res., 106, 10447–10466, \doi10.1029/2000JA000381, 2001. Molau, S. and Gural, P S.: A review of video meteor detection and analysis software, WGN, Journal of the International Meteor Organization, 33, 15–20, 2005. Paxton, L J. and Anderson, D E.: Far ultraviolet remote sensing of Venus and Mars, in: Venus and Mars: atmospheres, ionospheres, and solar wind interactions, 113–189, 1992. Pesnell, W D. and Grebowsky, J.: Meteoric magnesium ions in the Martian atmosphere, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 1695–1708, \doi10.1029/1999JE001115, 2000. Peterson, G.: Dynamics of Meteor Outbursts and Satellite Mitigation Strategies, AIAA, 1999. Rozanov, A., Rozanov, V., Buchwitz, M., Kokhanovsky, A., and Burrows, J P.: SCIATRAN 2.0 – A new radiative transfer model for geophysical applications in the 175 2400 nm spectral region, Adv. Space Res., 36, 1015–1019, \doi10.1016/j.asr.2005.03.012, 2005. Williams, I P.: The Dynamics of Meteoroid streams, Celest. Mech. Dynam. Astron., 81, 103–113, 2001. Zhou, Q H., Mathews, J D., and Zhou, Q N.: Incoherent scatter radar study of the impact of the meteoric influx on nocturnal E-region ionization, Geophys. Res. Lett., 26, 1833–1836, \doi10.1029/1999GL900369, 1999.