SABER Observations of Mesospheric Temperatures and Comparisons with Falling Sphere Measurements Taken During the 2002 Summer MaCWAVE Campaign
Abstract
The SABER instrument was launched onboard the TIMED satellite in December 2001. Vertical profiles of kinetic temperature (Tk) are derived from broadband measurements of CO2 15-micrometer limb emission, in combination with measurements of CO2 4.3-micrometer limb emission used to derive CO2 volume mixing ratio (vmr). Infrared emission from the CO2 ro-vibrational bands are in non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (non-LTE) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), requiring new radiation transfer and retrieval methods. In this paper we focus on Tk and show some of the first SABER observations of MLT Tk and compare SABER Tk profiles with rocket falling sphere (FS) measurements taken during the 2002 summer MaCWAVE campaign at Andoya, Norway. The comparisons are very encouraging and demonstrate a significant advance in satellite remote sensing of MLT limb emission and the ability to retrieve Tk under extreme non-LTE conditions.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Feb 05, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA437958
Entities
People
- Christopher J. Mertens
- Ellis E. Remsberg
- Francis J. Schmidlin
- James M. Russell Iii
- Manuel Lopez-puertas
- Martin G. Mlynczak
- Peter P. Wintersteiner
- Richard A. Goldberg
- Richard H. Picard
- W. D. Pesnell
Organizations
- Air Force Research Laboratory