The influence of ozone concentration on the lower ionosphere – modelling and measurements during the 29–30 October 2003 solar proton event

Osepian, A.; Kirkwood, S.; Dalin, Peter

doi:10.5194/angeo-27-577-2009

Cited by 13 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Reliable measurements of solar proton fluxes in several energy intervals (by the satellites GOES) permit good estimations of ionization rates and electron number densities. Atomic oxygen and ozone profiles which lead to model electron number density profiles N e (h) consistent with observations and which, consequently, are the most appropriate for polar mesospheric altitudes under solar proton event conditions have been presented by Osepian et al (2008Osepian et al ( , 2009a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ion-chemical model developed by Smirnova et al (1988) for the lower ionosphere has been used by Osepian et al (2008Osepian et al ( , 2009a to investigate the influence of the atomic oxygen and ozone concentrations on the electron density and the ion composition at different altitudes in the D-region during solar proton events, when there are favorable conditions for accurate measurements of electron density in the whole D-region, including the lower altitudes. The total PGI (Polar Geophysical Institute) model of ionizationrecombination cycle for the D-region takes into account sources of ionization, ion-molecular reactions that form positive cluster ions and complex negative ions from the primary ions, their dependence on temperature and number densities of minor neutral constituents, electron attachment to neutrals, electron photo-detachment of negative ions, photodissociation of negative ions, recombination of positive ions with electrons, reactions of ion-ion recombination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Electron density profiles in the quiet lower ionosphere based on the results of modeling and experimental data

et al. 2012

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Abstract. The theoretical PGI (Polar Geophysical Institute) model for the quiet lower ionosphere has been applied for computing the ionization rate and electron density profiles in the summer and winter D-region at solar zenith angles less than 80 • and larger than 99 • under steady state conditions. In order to minimize possible errors in estimation of ionization rates provided by solar electromagnetic radiation and to obtain the most exact values of electron density, each wavelength range of the solar spectrum has been divided into several intervals and the relations between the solar radiation intensity at these wavelengths and the solar activity index F 10.7 have been incorporated into the model. Influence of minor neutral species (NO, H 2 O, O, O 3 ) concentrations on the electron number density at different altitudes of the sunlit quiet D-region has been examined. The results demonstrate that at altitudes above 70 km, the modeled electron density is most sensitive to variations of nitric oxide concentration. Changes of water vapor concentration in the whole altitude range of the mesosphere influence the electron density only in the narrow height interval 73-85 km. The effect of the change of atomic oxygen and ozone concentration is the least significant and takes place only below 70 km.Model responses to changes of the solar zenith angle, solar activity (low-high) and season (summer-winter) have been considered. Modeled electron density profiles have been evaluated by comparison with experimental profiles available from the rocket measurements for the same conditions. It is demonstrated that the theoretical model for the quiet lower ionosphere is quite effective in describing variations in ionization rate, electron number density and effective recombination coefficient as functions of solar zenith angle, solar activity and season. The model may be used for solving inverse tasks, in particular, for estimations of nitric oxide concentration in the mesosphere.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Electron density profiles in the quiet lower ionosphere based on the results of modeling and experimental data

et al. 2012

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“…The ion-chemical model for the lower ionosphere from 50 to 110 km (the D-region) developed at the Polar Geophysical Institute is used to estimate the electron density profiles around the summer mesopause (Smirnova et al, 1988;Kirkwood and Osepian, 1995;Osepian et al, 2009;Barabash et al, 2012). The PGI model has been shown to reproduce electron density in the D-region adequately both under disturbed and quiet geophysical conditions.…”

Section: Modeling Of Pmse Reflectivity and Comparison With Experimentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wave influence on polar mesosphere summer echoes above Wasa: experimental and model studies

et al. 2012

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Abstract. Comprehensive analysis of the wave activity in the Antarctic summer mesopause is performed using polar mesospheric summer echoes (PMSE) measurements for December 2010-January 2011. The 2-day planetary wave is a statistically significant periodic oscillation in the power spectrum density of PMSE power. The strongest periodic oscillation in the power spectrum belongs to the diurnal solar tide; the semi-diurnal solar tide is found to be a highly significant harmonic oscillation as well. The inertial-gravity waves are extensively studied by means of PMSE power and wind components. The strongest gravity waves are observed at periods of about 1, 1.4, 2.5 and 4 h, with characteristic horizontal wavelengths of 28, 36, 157 and 252 km, respectively. The gravity waves propagate approximately in the west-east direction over Wasa (Antarctica). A detailed comparison between theoretical and experimental volume reflectivity of PMSE, measured at Wasa, is made. It is demonstrated that a new expression for PMSE reflectivity derived by Varney et al. (2011) is able to adequately describe PMSE profiles both in the magnitude and in height variations. The best agreement, within 30 %, is achieved when mean values of neutral atmospheric parameters are utilized. The largest contribution to the formation and variability of the PMSE layer is explained by the ice number density and its height gradient, followed by waveinduced perturbations in buoyancy period and the turbulent energy dissipation rate.

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“…Computation of ionization rate profiles, and the ionchemistry modelling which is needed to calculate electron density profiles and CNA, requires complex software, with the possibility of coding errors. Therefore, for the present study, results have been carefully compared to the independently coded model described in (Osepian et al, 2008(Osepian et al, , 2009a and Barabash et al (2012) (which uses the same Dregion ionization sources, the same positive-ion model and a more complex negative-ion model with four ions:…”

Section: Ion and No Production Rate Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ionization and NO production in the polar mesosphere during high-speed solar wind streams: model validation and comparison with NO enhancements observed by Odin-SMR

et al. 2015

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Abstract. Precipitation of high-energy electrons (EEP) into the polar middle atmosphere is a potential source of significant production of odd nitrogen, which may play a role in stratospheric ozone destruction and in perturbing large-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. High-speed streams of solar wind (HSS) are a major source of energization and precipitation of electrons from the Earth's radiation belts, but it remains to be determined whether these electrons make a significant contribution to the odd-nitrogen budget in the middle atmosphere when compared to production by solar protons or by lower-energy (auroral) electrons at higher altitudes, with subsequent downward transport. Satellite observations of EEP are available, but their accuracy is not well established. Studies of the ionization of the atmosphere in response to EEP, in terms of cosmic-noise absorption (CNA), have indicated an unexplained seasonal variation in HSS-related effects and have suggested possible order-ofmagnitude underestimates of the EEP fluxes by the satellite observations in some circumstances. Here we use a model of ionization by EEP coupled with an ion chemistry model to show that published average EEP fluxes, during HSS events, from satellite measurements (Meredith et al., 2011), are fully consistent with the published average CNA response (Kavanagh et al., 2012). The seasonal variation of CNA response can be explained by ion chemistry with no need for any seasonal variation in EEP. Average EEP fluxes are used to estimate production rate profiles of nitric oxide between 60 and 100 km heights over Antarctica for a series of unusually well separated HSS events in austral winter 2010. These are compared to observations of changes in nitric oxide during the events, made by the sub-millimetre microwave radiometer on the Odin spacecraft. The observations show strong increases of nitric oxide amounts between 75 and 90 km heights, at all latitudes poleward of 60 • S, about 10 days after the arrival of the HSS. These are of the same order of magnitude but generally larger than would be expected from direct production by HSS-associated EEP, indicating that downward transport likely contributes in addition to direct production.

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The influence of ozone concentration on the lower ionosphere – modelling and measurements during the 29–30 October 2003 solar proton event

Cited by 13 publications

References 51 publications

Electron density profiles in the quiet lower ionosphere based on the results of modeling and experimental data

Electron density profiles in the quiet lower ionosphere based on the results of modeling and experimental data

Wave influence on polar mesosphere summer echoes above Wasa: experimental and model studies

Ionization and NO production in the polar mesosphere during high-speed solar wind streams: model validation and comparison with NO enhancements observed by Odin-SMR

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