Patterns of carbon monoxide in the middle atmosphere and effects of solar variability

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https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0273117713004122

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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2013.06.033
 http://hdl.handle.net/11603/28610

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UMBC Joint Center for Earth Systems Technology (JCET)
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https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9814-9855

Date

2013-07-10

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journal articles
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Citation of Original Publication

Ruzmaikin, Alexander, Jae N. Lee & Dong L. "Patterns of carbon monoxide in the middle atmosphere and effects of solar variability." Advances in Space Research 54, no. 3 (10 July 2013): 320-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.asr.2013.06.033

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This work was written as part of one of the author's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
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Abstract

We determine the spatial-time patterns of zonally averaged carbon monoxide (CO) in the middle atmosphere by applying Principle Component Analysis to the CO data obtained from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) measurements on the Aura satellite in 2004–2012. The first two principal components characterize more than 90% of the CO variability. Both principal components are localized in the low thermosphere near the mesopause. The first principal component is asymmetric relative to the poles. It has opposite signs in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere at mid to high latitudes and strongly oscillates with an annual periodicity. The second principal component has the same sign in both hemispheres and oscillates mainly with a semi-annual frequency. Both principal components are modulated by the 11-year solar cycle and display short-term variations. To test possible correlations of these variations with the short term solar ultraviolet (UV) variability we use the simultaneous measurements of the UV solar radiance from the Solar-Stellar Irradiance Comparison Experiment (SOLSTICE) on the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satellite to investigate the correlation between CO in the middle atmosphere and solar UV in 2004–2012. Using a wavelet coherence technique a weak, intermittent 27-day signal is detected in high-frequency parts of the CO principal components.