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Volume 58 Supplement 9

Special Issue: International Sessions of Japan Earth and Planetary Science Joint Meeting 2005

Observations of the lower thermospheric neutral temperature and density in the DELTA campaign

Earth, Planets and Space volume 58, pages 1123–1130 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

The rotational temperature and number density of molecular nitrogen (N2) in the lower thermosphere were measured by the N2 temperature instrument onboard the S-310-35 sounding rocket, which was launched from Andøya at 0:33 UT on 13 December 2004, during the Dynamics and Energetics of the Lower Thermosphere in Aurora (DELTA) campaign. The rotational temperature measured at altitudes between 95 and 140 km, which is expected to be equal to neutral temperature, is much higher than neutral temperature from the Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter (MSIS) model. Neutral temperatures in the lower thermosphere were observed using the auroral green line at 557.7 nm by two Fabry-Perot Interferometers (FPIs) at Skibotn and the Kiruna Esrange Optical Platform System site. The neutral temperatures derived from the look directions closest to the rocket correspond to the rotational temperature measured at an altitude of 120 km. In addition, a combination of the all-sky camera images at 557.7 nm observed at two stations, Kilpisjärvi and Muonio, suggests that the effective altitude of the auroral arcs at the time of the launch is about 120 km. The FPI temperature observations are consistent with the in situ rocket observations rather than the MSIS model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Sagamihara, Kanagawa, 229-8510, Japan

    Junichi Kurihara, Takumi Abe & Koh-Ichiro Oyama

  2. Atmospheric Physics Laboratory, University College London, 67-73 Riding House Street, London, W1W 7EJ, UK

    Eoghan Griffin & Anasuya Aruliah

  3. Communication Systems, Lancaster University, Lancaster, LA1 4WA, UK

    Mike Kosch

  4. Finnish Meteorological Institute, P. O. Box 503, FIN-00101, Helsinki, Finland

    Kirsti Kauristie

  5. Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, Nagoya University, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, 464-8601, Japan

    Yasunobu Ogawa

  6. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, Graduate School of Science, University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0033, Japan

    Sayaka Komada & Naomoto Iwagami

Authors
  1. Junichi Kurihara
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  2. Takumi Abe
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  3. Koh-Ichiro Oyama
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  4. Eoghan Griffin
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  5. Mike Kosch
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  6. Anasuya Aruliah
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  7. Kirsti Kauristie
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  8. Yasunobu Ogawa
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  9. Sayaka Komada
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  10. Naomoto Iwagami
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Junichi Kurihara.

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Kurihara, J., Abe, T., Oyama, KI. et al. Observations of the lower thermospheric neutral temperature and density in the DELTA campaign. Earth Planet Sp 58, 1123–1130 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352001

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/BF03352001

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