The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002
Source at https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1593-2005 . On 6 December 2002, during winter darkness, an extraordinary event occurred in the sky, as viewed from Longyearbyen (78° N, 15° E), Svalbard, Norway. At 07:30 UT the southeast sky was surprisingly lit up in a deep red colour. The light increased...
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Online Access: | https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12595 https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 |
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ftunivtroemsoe:oai:munin.uit.no:10037/12595 2023-05-15T13:05:46+02:00 The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 Sigernes, F. Lloyd, N. Hoppe, U.-P. Degenstein, D. Shumilov, N. Moen, J. Gjessing, Y. Havnes, O. Skartveit, A. Raustein, E. Ørbæk, J.B. Deehr, CS 2005-07-27 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12595 https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 eng eng European Geosciences Union (EGU) Annales Geophysicae http://www.ann-geophys.net/23/1593/2005/angeo-23-1593-2005.pdf Sigernes, F., Lloyd, N., Lorentzen, D. A., Neuber, R., Degenstein, D., Shumilov, N., . Deehr, C.S. (2005). The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002. Annales Geophysicae. 23(5):1593-1602 FRIDAID 353641 doi:10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 0992-7689 1432-0576 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12595 openAccess Atmospheric composition and structure Transmissions and scattering of radiation Middle atmosphere composition and chemistry Instruments and techniques History of geophysics Atmospheric Sciences The red-sky phenomena Journal article Tidsskriftartikkel Peer reviewed 2005 ftunivtroemsoe https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 2021-06-25T17:55:27Z Source at https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1593-2005 . On 6 December 2002, during winter darkness, an extraordinary event occurred in the sky, as viewed from Longyearbyen (78° N, 15° E), Svalbard, Norway. At 07:30 UT the southeast sky was surprisingly lit up in a deep red colour. The light increased in intensity and spread out across the sky, and at 10:00 UT the illumination was observed to reach the zenith. The event died out at about 12:30 UT. Spectral measurements from the Auroral Station in Adventdalen confirm that the light was scattered sunlight. Even though the Sun was between 11.8 and 14.6deg below the horizon during the event, the measured intensities of scattered light on the southern horizon from the scanning photometers coincided with the rise and setting of the Sun. Calculations of actual heights, including refraction and atmospheric screening, indicate that the event most likely was scattered solar light from a target below the horizon. This is also confirmed by the OSIRIS instrument on board the Odin satellite. The deduced height profile indicates that the scattering target is located 18–23km up in the stratosphere at a latitude close to 73–75° N, southeast of Longyearbyen. The temperatures in this region were found to be low enough for Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC) to be formed. The target was also identified as PSC by the LIDAR systems at the Koldewey Station in Ny-Ålesund (79° N, 12° E). The event was most likely caused by solar illuminated type II Polar Stratospheric Clouds that scattered light towards Svalbard. Two types of scenarios are presented to explain how light is scattered. Article in Journal/Newspaper Adventdalen Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Svalbard University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive Adventdalen ENVELOPE(16.264,16.264,78.181,78.181) Longyearbyen Norway Ny-Ålesund Svalbard Annales Geophysicae 23 5 1603 1610 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Tromsø: Munin Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtroemsoe |
language |
English |
topic |
Atmospheric composition and structure Transmissions and scattering of radiation Middle atmosphere composition and chemistry Instruments and techniques History of geophysics Atmospheric Sciences The red-sky phenomena |
spellingShingle |
Atmospheric composition and structure Transmissions and scattering of radiation Middle atmosphere composition and chemistry Instruments and techniques History of geophysics Atmospheric Sciences The red-sky phenomena Sigernes, F. Lloyd, N. Hoppe, U.-P. Degenstein, D. Shumilov, N. Moen, J. Gjessing, Y. Havnes, O. Skartveit, A. Raustein, E. Ørbæk, J.B. Deehr, CS The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 |
topic_facet |
Atmospheric composition and structure Transmissions and scattering of radiation Middle atmosphere composition and chemistry Instruments and techniques History of geophysics Atmospheric Sciences The red-sky phenomena |
description |
Source at https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1593-2005 . On 6 December 2002, during winter darkness, an extraordinary event occurred in the sky, as viewed from Longyearbyen (78° N, 15° E), Svalbard, Norway. At 07:30 UT the southeast sky was surprisingly lit up in a deep red colour. The light increased in intensity and spread out across the sky, and at 10:00 UT the illumination was observed to reach the zenith. The event died out at about 12:30 UT. Spectral measurements from the Auroral Station in Adventdalen confirm that the light was scattered sunlight. Even though the Sun was between 11.8 and 14.6deg below the horizon during the event, the measured intensities of scattered light on the southern horizon from the scanning photometers coincided with the rise and setting of the Sun. Calculations of actual heights, including refraction and atmospheric screening, indicate that the event most likely was scattered solar light from a target below the horizon. This is also confirmed by the OSIRIS instrument on board the Odin satellite. The deduced height profile indicates that the scattering target is located 18–23km up in the stratosphere at a latitude close to 73–75° N, southeast of Longyearbyen. The temperatures in this region were found to be low enough for Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC) to be formed. The target was also identified as PSC by the LIDAR systems at the Koldewey Station in Ny-Ålesund (79° N, 12° E). The event was most likely caused by solar illuminated type II Polar Stratospheric Clouds that scattered light towards Svalbard. Two types of scenarios are presented to explain how light is scattered. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Sigernes, F. Lloyd, N. Hoppe, U.-P. Degenstein, D. Shumilov, N. Moen, J. Gjessing, Y. Havnes, O. Skartveit, A. Raustein, E. Ørbæk, J.B. Deehr, CS |
author_facet |
Sigernes, F. Lloyd, N. Hoppe, U.-P. Degenstein, D. Shumilov, N. Moen, J. Gjessing, Y. Havnes, O. Skartveit, A. Raustein, E. Ørbæk, J.B. Deehr, CS |
author_sort |
Sigernes, F. |
title |
The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 |
title_short |
The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 |
title_full |
The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 |
title_fullStr |
The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 |
title_full_unstemmed |
The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002 |
title_sort |
red-sky enigma over svalbard in december 2002 |
publisher |
European Geosciences Union (EGU) |
publishDate |
2005 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12595 https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(16.264,16.264,78.181,78.181) |
geographic |
Adventdalen Longyearbyen Norway Ny-Ålesund Svalbard |
geographic_facet |
Adventdalen Longyearbyen Norway Ny-Ålesund Svalbard |
genre |
Adventdalen Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Svalbard |
genre_facet |
Adventdalen Longyearbyen Ny Ålesund Ny-Ålesund Svalbard |
op_relation |
Annales Geophysicae http://www.ann-geophys.net/23/1593/2005/angeo-23-1593-2005.pdf Sigernes, F., Lloyd, N., Lorentzen, D. A., Neuber, R., Degenstein, D., Shumilov, N., . Deehr, C.S. (2005). The red-sky enigma over Svalbard in December 2002. Annales Geophysicae. 23(5):1593-1602 FRIDAID 353641 doi:10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 0992-7689 1432-0576 https://hdl.handle.net/10037/12595 |
op_rights |
openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-1603-2005 |
container_title |
Annales Geophysicae |
container_volume |
23 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1603 |
op_container_end_page |
1610 |
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1766393338786742272 |