Observations and Analysis of Upper Atmosphere (2nd Edition)

A special issue of Atmosphere (ISSN 2073-4433). This special issue belongs to the section "Upper Atmosphere".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 300

Special Issue Editor

Department of Geophysics, College of the Geology Engineering and Geomatics, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710054, China
Interests: sporadic sodium layer (NaS); sporadic E layer (ES); polar mesospheric cloud (PMC); lidar/radar observations; global circuit; space weather
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue, belonging to the Upper Atmosphere Section, is the second volume of "Observations and Analysis of Upper Atmosphere", which was published in Atmosphere at the start of 2025 and can be found at:  https://www.mdpi.com/journal/atmosphere/special_issues/W7X3YPTW62.

The upper atmosphere is the layer where matter and energy exchange between the lower atmosphere and outer space takes place. It is affected by disturbances from interstellar space and influenced by the lower atmosphere, with a variety of possible coupling processes. For example, solar flares, coronal mass ejection (CME), energetic particle precipitation (EPP), and galactic cosmic ray (GCR) may cause significant disturbances to the middle and upper atmosphere. In addition, various disturbances in the surface and lower atmosphere, such as lightning, volcanoes, earthquakes, and typhoons, etc., may also have an impact on the upper atmosphere. Therefore, it is a great challenge to investigate these coupled multi-layer processes through combined ground- and air-based observations.

Topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

Mesospheric layering phenomena;

Stratospheric sudden warming (SSW);

Gravity waves in the middle and upper atmosphere;

Lidar/radar observations;

Interaction between ionosphere and upper atmosphere;

Coupling between the lower and upper atmosphere;

Solar modulations in the middle and upper atmosphere.

Dr. Shican Qiu
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • radar
  • lidar
  • SSW
  • GW
  • upper atmosphere

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

24 pages, 5632 KiB  
Article
Harang Discontinuity Observed by Multi-Instrument Satellites in the Topside Ionosphere During Substorms
by Ildiko Horvath and Brian C. Lovell
Atmosphere 2025, 16(5), 595; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16050595 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 203
Abstract
Implied by the terminologies “Harang Reversal” and “Harang Discontinuity”, there are two significant features of the Harang region: (i) the reversal of auroral electrojets along with the underlying plasma convection flow and electric (E) fields, and (ii) the discontinuity between the electrojets/convection flows/E-fields. [...] Read more.
Implied by the terminologies “Harang Reversal” and “Harang Discontinuity”, there are two significant features of the Harang region: (i) the reversal of auroral electrojets along with the underlying plasma convection flow and electric (E) fields, and (ii) the discontinuity between the electrojets/convection flows/E-fields. Even the earliest studies reported the discontinuity observed in the meridional E-field. Conversely, some of the previous studies state that convection flow and E-field reversals do not involve any physical discontinuity. We investigate these two features (i–ii) observed in five topside-ionosphere Harang scenarios. Each scenario occurred during a sequence of events that led to the onset of the substorm expansion phase, when the Harang region was newly formed. Our results show (1) the newly formed Harang region between the dusk and dawn convection cells, where one convection cell wraps around the other, (2) the zonal drift- and E-field reversals, (3) the discontinuity between the dusk and dawn convection flows and also between the reversing E-field components, and (4) the Earthward electromagnetic energy deposition locally minimizing or diminishing within the discontinuity and peaking within the reversing zonal drift and E-fields. Thus, the observed convection flow and E-field reversals involved the development of discontinuity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Observations and Analysis of Upper Atmosphere (2nd Edition))
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