HR: 10:55h
AN: SA52A-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere (MLT) Temporal and Spatial Climatology and Variabilities
AU: * Yee, J
EM: sam.yee@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Talaat, E
EM: elsayed.talaat@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Xun, Z
EM: xun.zhu@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, United States
AU: Russell, J
EM: james.russell@hamptonu.edu
AF: Hampton University, 23 Tyler Street Center for Atmospheric Science, Hampton, VA 23668, United States
AU: Mlynczak, M
EM: m.g.mlynczak@larc.nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, Mail Stop 401B, Hampton, VA 23681-0001, United States
AU: Skinner, W
EM: Wskinner@umich.edu
AF: Space Physics Research Laboratory, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48019, 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 atmospheric layers 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 global climatological view of the basic structure of the MLT system during the descreasing phase of this current solar cycle. It has documented the impacts on MLT structures by the tropospheric and stratospheric weather, varying solar EUV radiation and x- ray flares, geomagnetic storms powered by solar corona mass ejections, and the powerful high speed streams of energetic particles. 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.
DE: 0300 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE
DE: 0340 Middle atmosphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0350 Pressure, density, and temperature
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Joint Assembly