Lidar observations of polar mesospheric clouds at Rothera, Antarctica (67.5 degrees S, 68.0 degrees W)

Chu, Xinzhao; Nott, Graeme J.; Espy, Patrick J.; Gardner, Chester S.; Diettrich, Jan C.; Clilverd, Mark A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7388-1529; Jarvis, Martin J.. 2004 Lidar observations of polar mesospheric clouds at Rothera, Antarctica (67.5 degrees S, 68.0 degrees W). Geophysical Research Letters, 31 (2), L02114. 5, pp. 10.1029/2003GL018638

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Abstract/Summary

Polar mesospheric clouds (PMC) were observed by an Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar at Rothera (67.5degreesS, 68.0degreesW), Antarctica in the austral summer of 2002-2003.The Rothera PMC are much weaker, less frequent, and not as high as the PMC observed at the South Pole. The mean PMC altitude is 83.74 +/- 0.25 km, which is approximately 1.3 km lower than the South Pole clouds. A comparison of numerous cloud observations indicates that southern hemisphere PMC are about 1 km higher than northern clouds at similar latitudes. Lidar measurements also show that the mesopause region temperatures at Rothera in late January are warmer than at the South Pole, while the Fe layer at Rothera has higher density and a lower peak altitude compared to the summertime Fe layer at the South Pole. These Fe density and temperature observations are qualitatively consistent with the PMC observations.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2003GL018638
Programmes:	BAS Programmes > Antarctic Science in the Global Context (2000-2005) > Geospace Atmosphere Transfer Functions
ISSN:	0094-8276
NORA Subject Terms:	Meteorology and Climatology Physics Atmospheric Sciences Chemistry
Date made live:	12 Jan 2012 11:12 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/12121

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