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Iron atom densities in the polar mesosphere from lidar observations
Author(s) -
Alpers Matthias,
Höffner Josef,
von Zahn Ulf
Publication year - 1990
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/gl017i013p02345
Subject(s) - altitude (triangle) , lidar , mesosphere , polar , atmospheric sciences , stratosphere , atmosphere (unit) , environmental science , geology , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , chemistry , physics , meteorology , remote sensing , astronomy , environmental chemistry , mathematics , geometry
Between March 24 and April 6, 1990, we performed lidar measurements of iron densities above Andøtya, Norway (69° N). In each of the five nights of measurements we observed a regular Fe layer which was confined to the altitude region between 80 and 100 km. Its peak Fe densities occurred at (84.5 ±1) km or approximately 6 km lower than the peak of the sodium layer as observed by us two weeks earlier. The regular Fe layer exhibited column densities of (9 ± 4) ·10 9 cm −2 and maximum number densities close to 7,000 cm −3 . In addition, sporadic Fe layers were observed frequently between 88 and 108 km, one of which reached a maximum number density of 78,000 cm −3 near 97 km altitude. Properties of the Fe layers as observed by us are compared to those observed by Granier et al. [1989] and by Bills and Gardner [1990].