[1] We analyze ground-based Fabry-Perot interferometer observations of upper thermospheric ($250 km) horizontal neutral winds derived from Doppler shifts in the 630.0 nm (red line) nightglow. The winds were measured over the following locations: South Pole (90°S), Halley (76°S, 27°W), Arequipa (17°S, 72°W), Arecibo (18°N, 67°W), Millstone Hill (43°N, 72°W), Søndre Strømfjord (67°N, 51°W), and Thule (77°N, 68°W). We derive climatological quiet time (Kp < 3) wind patterns as a function of local time, solar cycle, day of year, and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), and provide parameterized representations of these patterns. At the high-latitude stations, and at Arequipa near the geomagnetic equator, wind speeds tend to increase with increasing solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance. Over Millstone Hill and Arecibo, solar EUV has a negative effect on wind magnitudes. As represented by the 10.7 cm radio flux proxy, the solar EUV dependence of the winds at all latitudes is characterized by a saturation or weakening of the effect above moderate values (F 10.7 > 150). The seasonal dependence of the winds is generally annual, but there are isolated cases in which a semiannual variation is observed. Within the austral winter, winds measured from the South Pole show a substantial intraseasonal variation only along longitudes directed toward the magnetic pole. IMF effects are described in a companion paper.
The paper describes the operational analysis of the Imaging Infrared Radiometer (IIR) data, which have been collected in the framework of the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) mission for the purpose of retrieving high-altitude (above 7 km) cloud effective emissivity and optical depth that can be used in synergy with the vertically resolved Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) collocated observations. After an IIR scene classification is built under the CALIOP track, the analysis is applied to features detected by CALIOP when found alone in the atmospheric column or when CALIOP identifies an opaque layer underneath. The fast-calculation radiative transfer (FASRAD) model fed by ancillary meteorological and surface data is used to compute the different components involved in the effective emissivity retrievals under the CALIOP track. The track analysis is extended to the IIR swath using homogeneity criteria that are based on radiative equivalence. The effective optical depth at 12.05 mm is shown to be a good proxy for about one-half of the cloud optical depth, allowing direct comparisons with other databases in the visible spectrum. A step-by-step quantitative sensitivity and performance analysis is provided. The method is validated through comparisons of collocated IIR and CALIOP optical depths for elevated single-layered semitransparent cirrus clouds, showing excellent agreement (within 20%) for values ranging from 1 down to 0.05. Uncertainties have been determined from the identified error sources. The optical depth distribution of semitransparent clouds is found to have a nearly exponential shape with a mean value of about 0.5-0.6.
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