A comparison of Rayleigh and sodium lidar temperature climatologies

Abstract. Temperature measurements from the PCL Rayleigh lidar located near London, Canada, taken during the 11 year period from 1994 to 2004 are used to form a temperature climatology of the middle atmosphere. A unique feature of the PCL temperature climatology is that it extends from 35 to 95 km allowing comparison with other Rayleigh lidar climatologies (which typically extend up to about 85 km), as well as with climatologies derived from sodium lidar measurements which extend from 83 to 108 km. The derived temperature climatology is compared to the CIRA-86 climatological model and to other lidar climatologies, both Rayleigh and sodium. The PCL climatology agrees well with the climatologies of other Rayleigh lidars from similar latitudes, and like these other climatologies shows significant differences from the CIRA-86 temperatures in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Significant disagreement is also found between the PCL climatology and sodium lidar climatologies measured in the central and western United States at similar latitudes, with the PCL climatology consistently 10 to 15 K cooler in the 85 to 90 km region.