Three‐satellite comparison of polar mesospheric clouds: Evidence for long‐term change

Abstract

Measurements of polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) from three different satellite instruments are compared. These instruments are the Solar Mesospheric Explorer (SME), the Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII), and the Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement (POAM II). These measurements have been put on a common basis, correcting for differences in the wavelengths and measurement techniques used. This common basis is the probability distribution of the excess extinction ratio (EER) at a standard wavelength of 265 nm, where the EER is the ratio of the PMC extinction coefficient to the background molecular Rayleigh scattering coefficient. The results indicate that the POAM and WINDII measurements in the Southern Hemisphere had a higher probability of observing bright PMCs during the 1993–1996 time period than SME did a decade earlier in 1983–1986. Local time variations identified in WINDII data are interpreted in terms of a diurnal and semidiurnal component of average EER. These results are qualitatively similar to those found from lidar soundings of noctilucent cloud at sites in Norway and at the South Pole. Differences in interannual variability, local time of the measurements, assumed particle size distributions, and solar cycle effects are ruled out as possible explanations of the differences.