Fourteen Years of Atomic Hydrogen from SABER

Abstract:

We present results for atomic hydrogen in the mesopause region (80-100 km) derived from measurements made by the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) instrument on the TIMED satellite. SABER has been measuring the vertical distribution of infrared radiation emitted by various atmospheric gases for nearly 14 years, providing important information about chemical species, including atomic oxygen, atomic hydrogen, ozone and hydroxyl; temperature; and the radiation budget in the upper atmosphere. The methodology for the derivation of daytime and nighttime concentrations and volume mixing ratios will be presented. Zonal mean and global average daytime and nighttime concentrations of H, which demonstrate excellent agreement between 87 and 95 km, have been calculated and the results are compared with observations from the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME) satellite made nearly 30 years ago. Variability over the course of the SABER mission will be shown, including the apparent inverse dependence on the solar cycle, which stems from the temperature dependence of various reaction rate coefficients for H photochemistry. Results for H near solar max will be compared for Solar Cycles 23 and 24.