Nighttime O(¹D) distributions in the mesopause region derived from SABER data

Abstract. In this study, the new source of O(¹D) in the mesopause region proposed by Kalogerakis (2019) is applied to SABER data to estimate the nighttime O(¹D) distributions for the years 2003–2005. It is found that O(¹D) evolutions in these years are very similar to each other. Depending on the month, monthly averaged O(¹D) distributions may have a pronounced maximum (up to 80–110 cm⁻³ in January and July) localized in height (at ~ 97 ± 4 km) and latitude (at ~ 52 ± 4° S or ~ 52 ± 4° N). The nightly averaged O(¹D) concentrations may reach ~ 300 cm⁻³. The obtained results are useful data set for subsequent estimation of nighttime O(¹D) influence on chemistry of the mesopause region.