Open AccessPolar mesospheric cloud mass and the ice budget: 2. Application to satellite data sets
Author(s) -
Stevens Michael H.,
Englert Christoph R.,
DeLand Matthew T.,
Bailey Scott M.
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: atmospheres
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2006jd007532
Subject(s) - satellite , nadir , polar , environmental science , atmospheric sciences , backscatter (email) , mesosphere , remote sensing , geology , physics , astronomy , stratosphere , telecommunications , computer science , wireless
We use satellite observations of mid‐UV solar backscattered light from polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) to constrain the water ice budget. We compare the PMC mass from observations by two instruments: the limb viewing Student Nitric Oxide Explorer (SNOE) and the nadir viewing Solar Backscattered UltraViolet (SBUV) experiments. At 70 ± 2.5°N we find that SNOE measures over three times more PMC mass than the less sensitive SBUV experiment. We directly compare the two data sets by selecting only the brightest 10% of SNOE clouds so that the SNOE and SBUV PMC occurrence frequencies are the same. This comparison shows that the PMC mass averaged over five northern seasons is the same to within uncertainties in the ice particle size distribution. We also find that near midday, the northern SBUV PMC mass is a factor of 2.4 times greater than the southern PMC mass. These results provide new constraints for global climate models of PMC formation.