LATITUDINAL VARIATION OF MESOPAUSE HEIGHT INFERRED FROM ECLIPSE OBSERVATIONS,

Abstract

Observations of the flattening of the earth's shadow during lunar eclipses were used to compute the magnitude of a latitudinal height variation of the shadowproducing level. By means of a postulate that this level is associated with a temperature minimum in the earth's upper atmosphere, a latitudinal variation is inferred for for the mesopause, with the equatorial height being about 25 km greater than the height over the poles. Further inferences led to the conclusion that a double mesopause may be a consistent feature, and that the separation distance between the two mesopause altitudes could vary from a maximum of about 30 km over the equator to zero over the poles. It was finally shown that these conclusions were not necessarily inconsistent with the sparse experimental data presently available. (Author)

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 1964
Accession Number
AD0607171

Entities

People

  • G. F. Schilling

Organizations

  • RAND Corporation

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Altitude
  • Atmospheres
  • Eclipses
  • Experimental Data
  • Lunar Eclipses
  • Mesopause
  • Observation

Readers

  • Regression Analysis.
  • Space Exploration and Orbital Mechanics.
  • Space/Atmospheric Physics.

Technology Areas

  • AI & ML
  • Space
  • Space - Orbital Debris
  • Space - Space Objects