Premium
A long‐term trend in the height of the atmospheric sodium layer: Possible evidence for global change
Author(s) -
Clemesha B. R.,
Simonich D. M.,
Batista P. P.
Publication year - 1992
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 - 10.1029/92gl00123
Subject(s) - environmental science , atmospheric sciences , lidar , term (time) , climatology , allowance (engineering) , atmospheric temperature , diurnal temperature variation , meteorology , geology , geography , physics , remote sensing , mechanical engineering , quantum mechanics , engineering
An analysis of a long series of lidar measurements of the vertical distribution of atmospheric sodium shows the existence of a long‐term trend in the centroid height of the layer. After making allowance for the sampling effects of the mean seasonal and diurnal variations in centroid height, it is found that the height of the layer fell by approximately 700 meters between 1972 and 1987. A regression analysis indicates a mean rate of fall of 49 ±12 m yr −1 , with a correlation coefficient of −0.33, significant at the 99.99% level. The observed change is consistent with long term trends in mesospheric temperatures detected by other techniques.