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SMILES observations of mesospheric ozone during the solar eclipse
Author(s) -
Imai Koji,
Imamura Takashi,
Takahashi Kenshi,
Akiyoshi Hideharu,
Yamashita Yousuke,
Suzuki Makoto,
Ebisawa Ken,
Shiotani Masato
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl063323
Subject(s) - eclipse , solar eclipse , mesosphere , ozone , atmospheric sciences , atmosphere (unit) , altitude (triangle) , environmental science , radiation , physics , meteorology , astrophysics , astronomy , optics , stratosphere , geometry , mathematics
The Superconducting Submillimeter‐Wave Limb‐Emission Sounder (SMILES) successfully observed vertical distributions of ozone (O 3 ) concentration in the middle atmosphere during the annular solar eclipse that occurred on 15 January 2010. In the mesosphere, where the photochemical lifetime of O 3 is relatively short (approximately 100 s), altitude‐dependent changes in O 3 concentration under reduced solar radiation and their temporal variations were clearly observed as a function of the eclipse obscuration. This study reports the vertical distributions of mesospheric O 3 during a solar eclipse event and analyzes theoretically the eclipse‐induced changes. We show that simple analytical expressions for O 3 concentration, which assume that O 3 and O are in a photochemically steady state, can be used to describe the O 3 concentration under reduced solar radiation. The SMILES data obtained during the eclipse provide a unique opportunity to test our current understanding of mesospheric O 3 photochemistry.