Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations
The longitudinal distribution of upper atmospheric density has been broadly studied. However, the studies mostly focused on 24 h averaged distribution. This study presents the longitudinal distribution of thermospheric density at dawn and dusk, using observations collected by the atmospheric density...
Published in: | Atmosphere |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
Format: | Text |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 |
id |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4433/14/1/155/ |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2073-4433/14/1/155/ 2023-08-20T04:06:38+02:00 Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations Guangming Chen Xie Li Maosheng He Shushi Liu Haijun Man Hong Gao Yongping Li agris 2023-01-10 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute Upper Atmosphere https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Atmosphere; Volume 14; Issue 1; Pages: 155 thermospheric density longitudinal distribution dawn dusk low solar activity APOD Text 2023 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 2023-08-01T08:13:30Z The longitudinal distribution of upper atmospheric density has been broadly studied. However, the studies mostly focused on 24 h averaged distribution. This study presents the longitudinal distribution of thermospheric density at dawn and dusk, using observations collected by the atmospheric density detector onboard the Chinese satellite APOD (Atmospheric Density Detection and Precise Orbit Determination) during low solar activity. The APOD observations show a significant relative longitudinal variation of thermospheric density with global maxima (Δρrmax) near the geomagnetic pole, especially in the winter hemisphere. The annual maximum of Δρrmax appears in the Southern Hemisphere around the June solstices and reaches 26.3% and 39.6% at dawn and dusk, respectively. The auroral heating and meridional wind might play a significant role in the longitudinal variation of thermospheric density. We further compare the APOD observations with the semi-empirical atmospheric model MSIS (Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter Radar) 2.0 predictions under low solar activity conditions. The MSIS 2.0 model reproduces similar longitudinal variations to the observations, with hemispheric asymmetry. The longitudinal variation of thermospheric density from APOD should be related to the distribution of the atmospheric average molecular weight from the model. More observational data are needed to verify the results of this study further. Text Geomagnetic Pole MDPI Open Access Publishing Atmosphere 14 1 155 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
thermospheric density longitudinal distribution dawn dusk low solar activity APOD |
spellingShingle |
thermospheric density longitudinal distribution dawn dusk low solar activity APOD Guangming Chen Xie Li Maosheng He Shushi Liu Haijun Man Hong Gao Yongping Li Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations |
topic_facet |
thermospheric density longitudinal distribution dawn dusk low solar activity APOD |
description |
The longitudinal distribution of upper atmospheric density has been broadly studied. However, the studies mostly focused on 24 h averaged distribution. This study presents the longitudinal distribution of thermospheric density at dawn and dusk, using observations collected by the atmospheric density detector onboard the Chinese satellite APOD (Atmospheric Density Detection and Precise Orbit Determination) during low solar activity. The APOD observations show a significant relative longitudinal variation of thermospheric density with global maxima (Δρrmax) near the geomagnetic pole, especially in the winter hemisphere. The annual maximum of Δρrmax appears in the Southern Hemisphere around the June solstices and reaches 26.3% and 39.6% at dawn and dusk, respectively. The auroral heating and meridional wind might play a significant role in the longitudinal variation of thermospheric density. We further compare the APOD observations with the semi-empirical atmospheric model MSIS (Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter Radar) 2.0 predictions under low solar activity conditions. The MSIS 2.0 model reproduces similar longitudinal variations to the observations, with hemispheric asymmetry. The longitudinal variation of thermospheric density from APOD should be related to the distribution of the atmospheric average molecular weight from the model. More observational data are needed to verify the results of this study further. |
format |
Text |
author |
Guangming Chen Xie Li Maosheng He Shushi Liu Haijun Man Hong Gao Yongping Li |
author_facet |
Guangming Chen Xie Li Maosheng He Shushi Liu Haijun Man Hong Gao Yongping Li |
author_sort |
Guangming Chen |
title |
Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations |
title_short |
Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations |
title_full |
Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations |
title_fullStr |
Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Longitudinal Variation of Thermospheric Density during Low Solar Activity from APOD Observations |
title_sort |
longitudinal variation of thermospheric density during low solar activity from apod observations |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Geomagnetic Pole |
genre_facet |
Geomagnetic Pole |
op_source |
Atmosphere; Volume 14; Issue 1; Pages: 155 |
op_relation |
Upper Atmosphere https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos14010155 |
container_title |
Atmosphere |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
155 |
_version_ |
1774717874868322304 |