The intensification of metallic layered phenomena above thunderstorms through the modulation of atmospheric tides

Abstract

We present a multi-instrument experiment to study the effects of tropospheric thunderstorms on the mesopause region and the lower ionosphere. Sodium (Na) lidar and ionospheric observations by two digital ionospheric sounders are used to study the variation in the neutral metal atoms and metallic ions above thunderstorms. An enhanced ionospheric sporadic E layer with a downward tidal phase is observed followed by a subsequent intensification of neutral Na number density with an increase of 600 cm−3 in the mesosphere. In addition, the Na neutral chemistry and ion-molecule chemistry are considered in a Na chemistry model to simulate the dynamical and chemical coupling processes in the mesosphere and ionosphere above thunderstorms. The enhanced Na layer in the simulation obtained by using the ionospheric observation as input is in agreement with the Na lidar observation. We find that the intensification of metallic layered phenomena above thunderstorms is associated with the atmospheric tides, as a result of the troposphere-mesosphere-ionosphere coupling.

Interhemispheric transport of metallic ions within ionospheric sporadic <i>E</i> layers by the lower thermospheric meridional circulation

“…Although a variety of ground-based measurements have been performed, most studies interpret observations of earth metallic species in vertical and small-scale transport pro-cesses (Macleod, 1966;Plane, 2003;Davis and Johnson, 2005;Johnson and Davis, 2006;Davis and Lo, 2008;Haldoupis, 2012;Chu et al, 2014;Yu et al, 2015;Cai et al, 2017;Yu et al, 2017Yu et al, , 2019a. It is especially important to further monitor the ion-drift motions generated by meridional flows.…”

Formation of Multilayered Sporadic E under an Influence of Atmospheric Gravity Waves (AGWs)

“…We demonstrate the applicability of the presented theory, describing heavy metallic ion behavior in the lower thermosphere, including the phenomena of sporadic E formation and ion depletion under influence of horizontal wind, taking into account the propagation of the AGWs. The applicability of this theory shows its importance for the investigation of regional and global peculiarities of heavy metallic ion distribution [23,24].…”

Interhemispheric transport of metallic ions within ionospheric sporadic E layers by the lower thermospheric meridional circulation

“…Although a variety of ground-based measurements have been performed, most studies interpret observations of earth metallic species in vertical and small-scale transport pro-cesses (Macleod, 1966;Plane, 2003;Davis and Johnson, 2005;Johnson and Davis, 2006;Davis and Lo, 2008;Haldoupis, 2012;Chu et al, 2014;Yu et al, 2015;Cai et al, 2017;Yu et al, 2017Yu et al, , 2019a. It is especially important to further monitor the ion-drift motions generated by meridional flows.…”