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The global infrared energy budget of the thermosphere from 1947 to 2016 and implications for solar variability
Author(s) -
Mlynczak Martin G.,
Hunt Linda A.,
Russell James M.,
Marshall B. Thomas,
Mertens Christopher J.,
Thompson R. Earl
Publication year - 2016
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 - 10.1002/2016gl070965
Subject(s) - thermosphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , infrared , energy budget , context (archaeology) , radiative transfer , solar cycle , solar constant , physics , solar irradiance , solar wind , ionosphere , geology , astronomy , optics , paleontology , quantum mechanics , magnetic field , thermodynamics
We present an empirical model of the global infrared energy budget of the thermosphere over the past 70 years. The F 10.7 , Ap , and Dst indices are used in linear regression fits to the 14.5 year time series of radiative cooling by carbon dioxide and nitric oxide measured by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on the TIMED satellite. Databases of these indices are used to develop the radiative cooling time series from 1947. No consistent relation between the occurrence of peak sunspot number and peak infrared cooling is found over the past six solar cycles. The total infrared energy radiated by the thermosphere, integrated over a solar cycle, is nearly constant over five complete solar cycles studied. This is a direct consequence of the geoeffective solar energy also being nearly constant over the same intervals. These results provide a new metric for assessing the terrestrial context of the long‐term record of solar‐related indices.