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Local full diurnal coverage of temperature variations across the turbopause (∼90–115 km altitude) is achieved by combining the nocturnal observations of a Sodium (Na) Doppler lidar on the Utah State University (USU) campus (41.7°N, 248.2°E) and NASA Michelson interferometer for global high‐resolution thermospheric imaging (MIGHTI)/Ionospheric connection explorer (ICON) daytime observations made in the same vicinity. In this study, utilizing this hybrid data set during summer 2020 between June 12th and July 15th, we retrieve the temperature signatures of diurnal and semidiurnal tides in this region. The tidal amplitudes of both components have similar vertical variation with increasing altitude: less than 5 K below ∼98 km but increase considerably above, up to 19 K near 104 km. Both experience significant dissipation near turbopause altitudes, down to ∼12 K up to 113 km for the diurnal tide and ∼13 K for the semidiurnal tide near 110 km. In addition, while the semidiurnal tidal behavior is consistent with the theoretical predictions, the diurnal amplitude is considerably larger than what is expected in the turbopause region. The tidal phase profile shows a dominance of tidal components with a long vertical wavelength (longer than 40 km) for the semidiurnal tide. On the other hand, the diurnal tide demonstrates close to an evanescent wave behavior in the turbopause region, which is absent in the model results and Thermosphere ionosphere mesosphere energetics and dynamics (TIMED)/Sounding of the atmosphere using broadband radiometry (SABER) observations.

 

The variations of the horizontal phase velocity of an internal gravity wave, generated by wave “blocking” or “reflection” due to an inhomogeneous wind field, have been predicted theoretically and numerically investigated but had yet to be captured experimentally. In this paper, through a collaborative observation campaign using a sodium (Na) Temperature/Wind lidar and a collocated Advanced Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (AMTM) at Utah State University (USU), we report the first potential evidence of such a unique gravity wave process. The study shows that a small‐scale wave, captured by the AMTM, with initial observed horizontal phase velocity of 37 ± 5 m/s toward the northwest direction, experienced a large and increasing headwind as it was propagating in the AMTM field of view. This resulted in significant deceleration along its initial traveling direction, and it became quasi‐stationary before it was “reflected” to the opposite direction at later time. The USU Na lidar measured the horizontal wind and temperature during the event, when the wave was found traveling within a temperature inversion layer and experiencing an increasing headwind relative to the wave. The wind agrees well with the expected value for wave blocking suggested by the wave tracing theory, implying the existence of a large horizontal wind gradient that night near the OH layer altitudes. The study indicates the critical role of horizontal winds and their horizontal gradients in determining propagation in vertical and horizontal directions.

 

Abstract The Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) was launched aboard NASA’s Ionospheric Connection (ICON) Explorer satellite in October 2019 to measure winds and temperatures on the limb in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Temperatures are observed using the molecular oxygen atmospheric band near 763 nm from 90–127 km altitude in the daytime and 90–108 km in the nighttime. Here we describe the measurement approach and methodology of the temperature retrieval, including unique on-orbit operations that allow for a better understanding of the instrument response. The MIGHTI measurement approach for temperatures is distinguished by concurrent observations from two different sensors, allowing for two self-consistent temperature products. We compare the MIGHTI temperatures against existing MLT space-borne and ground-based observations. The MIGHTI temperatures are within 7 K of these observations on average from 90–95 km throughout the day and night. In the daytime on average from 99–105 km, MIGHTI temperatures are higher than coincident observations by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on NASA’s TIMED satellite by 18 K. Because the difference between the MIGHTI and SABER observations is predominantly a constant bias at a given altitude, conclusions of scientific analyses that are based on temperature variations are largely unaffected.