Semidiurnal thermal tide in the mesopause region over Yakutia

Abstract

The study is based on measuring fluctuations of the intensity and rotational temperatures of the molecular emissions of hydroxyl OH(6,2) and the first atmospheric band of oxygen O2(0–1), excited at approximately 87 and 95 km, respectively. The measurements are conducted at Maimaga station (63°N, 129.5°E), located 150 km north of Yakutsk. The semidiurnal tide parameters were obtained using the database compiled from 1999 to 2005. The data obtained from October to March were analyzed. The measurements conducted during 214 nights were used to determine the semidiurnal tide parameters. The wave amplitude at the height of the molecular oxygen emission (∼95 km) is 8 K, which is larger than the amplitude at the height of the hydroxyl emission (∼87 km) by approximately 2 K. Except November, the 12-h oscillation at the height of molecular oxygen excitation leads the oscillation at the height of hydroxyl excitation. On average, the phase is ∼5.7 h at the OH emission height and ∼6.4 h at the O2 emission height. We note that an abrupt increase in the tide amplitude in March at the molecular oxygen height can be related to a seasonal decrease in the so-called “wave” turbopause height.