HR: 0800h
AN: SA21A-0267    [Abstracts]
TI: Seasonal variations of mesospheric Fe layers at Rothera and comparisons to the South Pole results
AU: * Chu, X
EM: Xinzhao.Chu@Colorado.edu
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences & Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, 216 UCB, CIRES, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
AU: Nott, G J
EM: graeme.nott@dal.ca
AF: Department of Physics and Atmospheric Science, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS B3H 3J5, Canada
AU: Espy, P J
EM: pje@bas.ac.uk
AF: Physical Sciences Division, British Antarctic Survey, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, United Kingdom
AU: Plane, J M
EM: J.M.C.Plane@leeds.ac.uk
AF: School of Chemistry, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
AU: Huang, W
EM: Wentao.Huang@Colorado.EDU
AF: Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences & Department of Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado at Boulder, 216 UCB, CIRES, Boulder, CO 80309, United States
AB: Based on two and half years of lidar observations made by the British Antarctic Survey and the University of Illinois at Rothera (67.5S, 68.0W), Antarctica with an Fe Boltzmann temperature lidar, a systematic analysis was made to characterize the mesospheric Fe layers at this high southern latitude. Rothera Fe layer characteristics are then compared to the South Pole results reported earlier. Rothera seasonal variations of Fe layers share some similar features as those of the South Pole but there are distinct differences between these two sites. Among them, the summer Fe layers at Rothera have lower peak altitude but much high abundance than those of the South Pole. This may be attributed to the heterogeneous removal process by the apparent different occurrence frequencies of polar mesospheric clouds (PMC). Meanwhile, the midwinter Fe layers at Rothera show very low peak altitude (~80 km) and sharp bottom edge. We will seek the explanations for the results through comparison to a mesospheric Fe chemistry model.
DE: 0340 Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0341 Middle atmosphere: constituent transport and chemistry (3334)
DE: 3311 Clouds and aerosols
DE: 3334 Middle atmosphere dynamics (0341, 0342)
DE: 3360 Remote sensing
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting