Data · dataset · 2026
Odin observations of Antarctic nighttime NO densities in the mesosphere-lower thermosphere and observations of a lower NO layer
Listed in National Center for Atmospheric Research
The Optical Spectrograph and Infrared Imaging System (OSIRIS) on the Odin satellite currently has an eight-year dataset of nighttime Antarctic nitric oxide densities, [NO], in the mesosphereâlower thermosphere (MLT) region.
Description
In this work, the OSIRIS data are compared with a similar data set from the Sub-Millimeter Radiometer (SMR), also on the Odin satellite. Both of the Odin data sets are compared with twilight [NO] from the Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment-Fourier Transform Spectrometer (ACE-FTS) on the SciSat-I satellite.
Direct comparisons of OSIRIS and SMR profiles show large differences, indicating that the individual [NO] profiles of one or both data sets may not be valid. However, when comparing averaged [NO], variations on timescales of weeks-years in all three data sets are in good agreement and correspond to the 27 day and 11 year solar cycles. The averaged OSIRIS values are typically 10% greater than SMR and 30% greater than ACE-FTS, which are within the estimated OSIRIS systematic uncertainties.
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These results suggest that the satellite-derived data sets can be used for determining polar-mean NO climatology and variations on timescales of weeks-years. The OSIRIS and SMR nighttime data sets show that the [NO] peak height in the MLT decreases throughout the autumn, from an altitude near or above 100âkm to a minimum altitude ranging from 90 to 95âkm around winter solstice. A similar decrease in [NO] peak height is observed in modeled NO climatology from the Specified DynamicsâWhole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (SD-WACCM), although the SD-WACCM climatology exhibits a decrease throughout autumn from 107âkm down to 102âkm.
The results suggest that global climate models require more sophisticated auroral forcing simulations in order to reproduce observed NO variations in this region.
Links
Get the data
- Publisher page n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7474br9 ↗
documentation · download · from data ucar edu
Where it is published
- data.ucar.edu /dataset/odin-observations-of-antarctic-nighttime-no-densities-… ↗
National Center for Atmospheric Research dataset page
landing page · from data ucar edu
Catalogue records · 1
- CKAN API data.ucar.edu/api/3/action/package_show?id=be904049-d166-4717-90d0-5ebf1f32a… ↗
metadata API · from data ucar edu
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Ocean & Atmospheric Science
- Inferred from text
- Climate model simulation 65% · Imaging 75%
Provenance · 1 source records, 9 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Center for Atmospheric Research | be904049-d166-4717-90d0-5ebf1f32a357 | 11 d ago | JSON v1 |
| Field | Assertion | Extractor | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| concepts[field].local:field:earth-environmental | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[field].local:field:ocean-atmospheric | mapping · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| concepts[method].local:method:climate-model | enrichment · data ucar edu | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (65%) |
| concepts[modality].local:modality:imaging | enrichment · data ucar edu | keyword-concept-rules@1.0.0 | title+description (75%) |
| created_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| description | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /notes |
| publication_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | |
| title | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 | /title |
| updated_date | source · data ucar edu | connector:data_ucar_edu@1.0.0 |