The Need for Better Monitoring of Climate Change in the Middle and Upper Atmosphere

Añel, Juan A.; Cnossen, Ingrid ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6469-7861; Antuña‐Marrero, Juan Carlos; Beig, Gufran; Brown, Matthew K.; Doornbos, Eelco; Osprey, Scott; Mutschler, Shaylah Maria; Pérez Souto, Celia; Šácha, Petr; Sofieva, Viktoria; de la Torre, Laura; Zhang, Shun‐Rong; Mlynczak, Martin G.. 2025 The Need for Better Monitoring of Climate Change in the Middle and Upper Atmosphere. AGU Advances, 6 (2), e2024AV001465. 8, pp. 10.1029/2024AV001465

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.

Preview

Text (Open Access)
© 2025. The Author(s).
AGU Advances - 2025 - Añel - The Need for Better Monitoring of Climate Change in the Middle and Upper Atmosphere.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.
Download (912kB) | Preview

Official URL: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.102...

Abstract/Summary

Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions significantly impact the middle and upper atmosphere. They cause cooling and thermal shrinking and affect the atmospheric structure. Atmospheric contraction results in changes in key atmospheric features, such as the stratopause height or the peak ionospheric electron density, and also results in reduced thermosphere density. These changes can impact, among others, the lifespan of objects in low Earth orbit, refraction of radio communication and GPS signals, and the peak altitudes of meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere. Given this, there is a critical need for observational capabilities to monitor the middle and upper atmosphere. Equally important is the commitment to maintaining and improving long-term, homogeneous data collection. However, capabilities to observe the middle and upper atmosphere are decreasing rather than improving.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2024AV001465
Additional Keywords:	climate change, upper atmosphere, middle atmosphere, Earth observation, space debris
Date made live:	28 Feb 2025 15:36 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538756

Item Type:

Publication - Article

Digital Object Identifier (DOI):

10.1029/2024AV001465

Additional Keywords:

climate change, upper atmosphere, middle atmosphere, Earth observation, space debris

Date made live:

28 Feb 2025 15:36 +0 (UTC)

URI:

https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/538756