Data · dataset · 2026
The long-term trends of nocturnal mesopause temperature and altitude revealed by Na lidar observations between 1990 and 2018 at mid-latitude
Listed in National Center for Atmospheric Research
The mesopause, a boundary between mesosphere and thermosphere with the coldest atmospheric temperature, is formed mainly by the combining effects of radiative cooling of CO2, and the vertical adiabatic flow in the upper atmosphere.
Description
A continuous multidecade (1990-2018) nocturnal temperature database of an advanced Na lidar, obtained at Fort Collins, CO (41°N, 105°W), and at Logan, UT (42°N, 112°W), provides an unprecedented opportunity to study the long-term variations of this important atmospheric boundary.
In this study, we categorize the lidar-observed mesopause into two categories: the "high mesopause" (HM) above 97 km during nonsummer months, mainly formed through the radiative cooling, and the "low mesopause" (LM) below 92 km during nonwinter months, generated mostly by the adiabatic cooling. These lidar observations reveal a cooling trend of more than 2 K/decade in absolute mesopause temperature since 1990, along with a decreasing trend in mesopause height: The HM is moving downward at a speed of ~ 450 ± 90 m/decade, while the LM has a slower downward trend of ~ 130 ± 160 m/decade.
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However, since 2000, while the height trend (- 470 ± 160 m/decade for the HM and 150 ± 290 m/decade for the LM) is consistent, the temperature trend becomes statistically insignificant (- 0.2 ± 0.7 K/decade and -1 ± 0.9 K/decade for the HM and the LM, respectively). A long-term study by Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model with thermosphere and ionosphere extension (WACCM-X) also indicated the similar mesopause changes, mostly caused by stratosphere-lower mesosphere cooling and contraction.
Links
Get the data
- Publisher page n2t.org/ark:/85065/d7zc83wj ↗
documentation · download · from data ucar edu
Where it is published
- data.ucar.edu /dataset/the-long-term-trends-of-nocturnal-mesopause-temperatur… ↗
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=3a0c23cc-f794-49cd-a5e0-cb362bf2f… ↗
metadata API · from data ucar edu
Topics
- From keywords
- Earth & Environmental Science · Ocean & Atmospheric Science
- Inferred from text
- Climate model simulation 65%
Provenance · 1 source records, 8 field assertions
| Source | Key | Last seen | Raw |
|---|---|---|---|
| National Center for Atmospheric Research | 3a0c23cc-f794-49cd-a5e0-cb362bf2f6e5 | 13 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%) |
| 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 |