HR: 08:40h
AN: SA31A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: The Variabilities of the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere as observed by TIMED
AU: * Yee, J
EM: sam.yee@jhuapl.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Talaat, E
EM: elsayed.talaat@jhuapl.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Zhu, X
EM: xun.zhu@jhuapl.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Russell, J
EM: james.russell@hamptonu.edu
AF: Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Hampton University, 23 Tyler Street, Hampton, VA 23668, United States
AU: Mlynczak, M
EM: m.g.mlynczak@larc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley, Mail Stop 401B Langley Research Center National Aeronautics and Space Admin., Hampton, VA 23681-0001, United States
AU: Skinner, W
EM: Wskinner@umich.edu
AF: Space Physics Research Laboratory, 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, MD 48109, United States
AU: Paxton, L
EM: larry.paxton@jhuapl.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AB: The Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) is a region of the Earth atmosphere that is very sensitive to external influences from the sun above and lower atmosphere below it. Its chemical, momentum and thermal balance, thus basic states (i.e. pressure, density, and temperature, and winds) can change in different time scales due to naturally-occurring and/or human-induced changes to the composition and energy contained within this region. The NASA Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) mission, since its successful launch in December 2001, has provided for the first time a comprehensive view of the basic structure and its variabilities of the MLT system during the descreasing phase of this current solar cycle. This paper gives a 5-year climatological view of the MLT system as observed by the TIMED spacecraft and reports the characteristics and magnitudes of its temporal and spatial variabilities. Examples of the observed climatology and variabilities will be used to examine and assess our basic understanding of coupled radiative/chemical/dynamical processes that occur in the system.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0340 Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0345 Pollution: urban and regional (0305, 0478, 4251)
DE: 0350 Pressure, density, and temperature
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting