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Atmosphere
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Observations and Analysis of Upper Atmosphere (2nd Edition)
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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 717

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Shican Qiu

E-Mail Website
Guest 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
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Atmosphere is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • radar
  • lidar
  • SSW
  • GW
  • upper atmosphere

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 2075 KiB  
Article
Quantifying Polar Mesospheric Clouds Thermal Impact on Mesopause
by Arseniy Sokolov, Elena Savenkova, Andrey Koval, Nikolai Gavrilov, Karina Kravtsova, Kseniia Didenko and Tatiana Ermakova
Atmosphere 2025, 16(8), 922; https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos16080922 - 30 Jul 2025
Abstract
The article is focused on the quantitative assessment of the thermal impact of polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) on the mesopause caused by the emission of absorbed solar and terrestrial infrared (IR) radiation by cloud particles. For this purpose, a parameterization of mesopause heating [...] Read more.
The article is focused on the quantitative assessment of the thermal impact of polar mesospheric clouds (PMCs) on the mesopause caused by the emission of absorbed solar and terrestrial infrared (IR) radiation by cloud particles. For this purpose, a parameterization of mesopause heating by PMC crystals has been developed, the main feature of which is to incorporate the thermal properties of ice and the interaction of cloud particles with the environment. Parametrization is based on PMCs zero-dimensional (0-D) model and uses temperature, pressure, and water vapor data in the 80–90 km altitude range retrieved from Solar Occultation for Ice Experiment (SOFIE) measurements. The calculations are made for 14 PMC seasons in both hemispheres with the summer solstice as the central date. The obtained results show that PMCs can make a significant contribution to the heat balance of the upper atmosphere, comparable to the heating caused, for example, by the dissipation of atmospheric gravity waves (GWs). The interhemispheric differences in heating are manifested mainly in the altitude structure: in the Southern Hemisphere (SH), the area of maximum heating values is 1–2 km higher than in the Northern Hemisphere (NH), while quantitatively they are of the same order. The most intensive heating is observed at the lower boundary of the minimum temperature layer (below 150 K) and gradually weakens with altitude. The NH heating median value is 5.86 K/day, while in the SH it is 5.24 K/day. The lowest values of heating are located above the maximum of cloud ice concentration in both hemispheres. The calculated heating rates are also examined in the context of the various factors of temperature variation in the observed atmospheric layers. It is shown in particular that the thermal impact of PMC is commensurate with the influence of dissipating gravity waves at heights of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), which parameterizations are included in all modern numerical models of atmospheric circulation. Hence, the developed parameterization can be used in global atmospheric circulation models for further study of the peculiarities of the thermodynamic regime of the MLT. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Observations and Analysis of Upper Atmosphere (2nd Edition))
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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 407
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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