Numerical model of the sodium layer in the mesosphere: Seasonal and diurnal variation

• Main Authors: Michihiro Uchiumi, Motowo Fujiwara
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyusyu University 1987
• Subjects: Memoirs of National Institute of Polar Research; Polar Research
• Online Access: https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_uri&item_id=2153; http://id.nii.ac.jp/1291/00002153/; https://nipr.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=2153&item_no=1&attribute_id=18&file_no=1

This paper describes some computational results on the mesospheric sodium layer using the newly measured chemical reaction rate coefficients. After the most updated neutral chemistry, the calculated winter/summer ratio is consistent with the observational results. The time constant of sodium atoms is found to be shorter than 20s (70-90km). This short time constant invalidates a previous model of sodium gravity waves, which assumes that sodiums are chemically conservative during their vertical moving induced by gravity waves. We proposed a new mechanism here to explain the wavelike structures of the sodium layer drived by gravity waves.