Production and transport mechanisms of NO in the polar upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere in observations and models

Hendrickx, Koen; Megner, Linda; Marsh, Daniel R.; Smith-Johnsen, Christine

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9075-2018

Articles | Volume 18, issue 12

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9075-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-9075-2018

© Author(s) 2018. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 18, issue 12

Research article

|

28 Jun 2018

Research article |

| 28 Jun 2018

Production and transport mechanisms of NO in the polar upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere in observations and models

Koen Hendrickx, Linda Megner, Daniel R. Marsh, and Christine Smith-Johnsen

Data sets

SOFIE – WACCM NO Comparison, Mendeley Data, v1 Koen Hendrickx https://doi.org/10.17632/rvyvk6j5yf.1

Short summary

The mechanisms that produce, destroy and transport nitric oxide (NO) in the Antarctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere are investigated in AIM-SOFIE satellite observations and compared to SD-WACCM simulations. During winter, NO concentrations are most similar while the altitude of maximum NO number densities is most separated. Even though the rate of descent is similar in both datasets, the simulated descending NO flux is too low in concentration, which reflects a missing source of NO.