The global distribution of thermospheric odd nitrogen for solstice conditions during solar cycle minimum

peer reviewed A two-dimensional model of odd nitrogen in the thermosphere and upper mesosphere is described. The global distributions of nitric oxide and atomic nitrogen are calculated for the solstice period for quiet and moderate magnetic activity during the solar minimum period. The effect of the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research
Main Authors: Gérard, Jean-Claude, Roble, R. G., Rusch, D. W., Stewart, A. I.
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: American Geophysical Union (AGU) 1984
Subjects:
ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION
ATMOSPHERIC MODELS
NITROGEN
SOLAR CYCLES
SOLSTICES
THERMOSPHERE
ATMOSPHERIC CHEMISTRY
ATMOSPHERIC CIRCULATION
ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE
MINIMA
NEUTRAL ATMOSPHERES
REACTION KINETICS
SOLAR TERRESTRIAL INTERACTIONS
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
TWO DIMENSIONAL MODELS
Physical
chemical
mathematical & earth Sciences
Space science
astronomy & astrophysics
Physique
chimie
mathématiques & sciences de la terre
Aérospatiale
astronomie & astrophysique
polar night
Online Access:https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/27496
https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/27496/1/Gerard_et_al-1984-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research%253A_Space_Physics.pdf
https://doi.org/10.1029/JA089iA03p01725
Description
Summary:peer reviewed A two-dimensional model of odd nitrogen in the thermosphere and upper mesosphere is described. The global distributions of nitric oxide and atomic nitrogen are calculated for the solstice period for quiet and moderate magnetic activity during the solar minimum period. The effect of thermospheric transport by winds is investigated along with the importance of particle-induced ionization in the auroral zones. The results are compared with rocket and satellite measurements, and the sensitivity of the model to eddy diffusion and neutral winds is investigated. Downward fluxes of NO into the mesosphere are given, and their importance for stratospheric ozone is discussed. The results show that the summer-to-winter pole meridional circulation transports both NO and N(S-4) across the solar terminator into the polar night region where there is a downward vertical transport toward the mesosphere. The model shows that odd nitrogen densities at high winter latitudes are entirely controlled by particle precipitation and transport processes.

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