HR: 14:50h
AN: SA32A-05 INVITED     [PDF]
TI: Elements of the energy budget of the mesosphere as revealed by the SABER experiment
AU: * Mlynczak, M
EM: m.g.mlynczak@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Boulevard, Hampton, VA 23681-2199 United States
AU: Martin-Torres, F
EM: f.martin-torres@larc.nasa.gov
AF: AS+M Corporation, 1 Enterprise Parkway, Hampton, VA 23666 United States
AU: Mertens, C
EM: c.j.mertens@larc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Boulevard, Hampton, VA 23681-2199 United States
AU: Lopez-Puertas, M
EM: puertas@iaa.es
AF: IAA, Apartado 3004, Granada, 18080 Spain
AU: Russell, J M
EM: james.russell@hamptonu.edu
AF: Hampton University, 21 Tyler Street, Hampton, VA 23666
AU: Winick, J
EM: Jeremy.Winick@hanscom.af.mil
AF: AFRL, Hanscom AFB, Hanscom, MA 01731 United States
AU: Picard, R
EM: Richard.Picard@hanscom.af.mil
AF: AFRL, Hanscom AFB, Hanscom, MA 01731 United States
AU: Gordley, L
EM: larry@gats-inc.com
AF: G + A Technical Software, Canon Blvd., Newport News, VA 23606 United States
AB: The energy budget of the terrestrial mesosphere remains a frontier of scientific inquiry. Many processes including direct deposition of solar energy, exothermic chemical reactions, and radiative emission by species such as carbon dioxide and ozone influence the energy balance and hence the thermal structure. The Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) experiment now operating in orbit on the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite has been designed to provide measurements of virtually the entire set of solar, chemical, and infrared radiative sources and sinks of energy in the mesosphere. In this paper we present the first assessment of these many sources and sinks of energy. We focus on the processes of solar energy deposition and conversion of energy to heat by exothermic chemical reactions, including an accounting of the loss of energy by airglow and chemiluminescence that reduces the amount of energy available for heat.
DE: 0310 Airglow and aurora
DE: 0317 Chemical kinetic and photochemical properties
DE: 0340 Middle atmosphere--composition and chemistry
DE: 0342 Middle atmosphere--energy deposition
DE: 0358 Thermosphere--energy deposition
SC: SPA - Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting