Advances in Researches on the Middle and Upper Atmosphere in 2010—2012

This article summarizes the researches on the middle and upper atmosphere by Chinese scientists in 2010-2012.The focuses are placed on the advances in construction of ground-based remote sensing facilities,the mean state and long-term changes in the middle atmosphere circulation, the prevailing dynamical processes,and the coupling of the middle atmospheric layers.

Advances in the Researches of the Middle and Upper Atmosphere in China

In this report we summarize the research results by Chinese scientists in 2018–2020.The focuses are placed on the researches of the middle and upper atmosphere,specifically the researches on atmospheric structure and composition,climate and chemistry-climate coupling and climate modelling,dynamics in particular those inducing the coupling of the atmospheric layers.

Advances in the Researches of the Middle and Upper Atmosphere in China in 2020-2022

This report reviews the researches for the middle and upper atmosphere in 2020-2022 by Chinese scientists.The report consists of five parts introducing primarily the results from the aspects of the development of infrastructure,the structure and composition,the climate and modeling,the dynamics for the middle and upper atmosphere,and Coupling between Stratosphere and Troposphere,respectively.

Is Solar Wind electron precipitation a source of neutral heating in the nightside Martian upper atmosphere?

Solar Wind(SW)electron precipitation is able to deposit a substantial amount of energy in the nightside Martian upper atmosphere,potentially exerting an influence on its thermal structure.This study serves as the first investigation of such an issue,with the aid of the simultaneous measurements of both neutral density and energetic electron intensity made on board the recent Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution(MAVEN)spacecraft.We report that,from a statistical point of view,the existing measurements do not support a scenario of noticeable neutral heating via SW electron precipitation.However,during 3%−4%of the MAVEN orbits for which data are available,strong correlation between nightside temperature and electron intensity is observed,manifested as collocated enhancements in both parameters,as compared to the surrounding regions.In addition,our analysis also indicates that neutral heating via SW electron precipitation tends to be more effective at altitudes below 160 km for integrated electron intensities above 0.01 ergs·cm^−2·s^−1 over the energy range of 3−450 eV.The results reported here highlight the necessity of incorporating SW electron precipitation as a heat source in the nightside Martian upper atmosphere under extreme circumstances such as during interplanetary coronal mass ejections.

Response of atmospheric carbon dioxide to the secular variation of weakening geomagnetic field in whole atmosphere simulations

Responses of atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO_(2))density to geomagnetic secular variation are investigated using the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model-eXtended(WACCM-X).Our ensemble simulations show that CO_(2) volume mixing ratios(VMRs)increase at high latitudes and decrease at mid and low latitudes by several ppmv in response to a 50%weakening of the geomagnetic field.Statistically significant changes in CO_(2) are mainly found above~90 km altitude and primarily redetermine the energy budget at~100-110 km.Our analysis of transformed Eulerian mean(TEM)circulation found that CO_(2) change is caused by enhanced upwelling at high latitudes and downwelling at mid and low latitudes as a result of increased Joule heating.We further analyzed the atmospheric CO_(2) response to realistic geomagnetic weakening between 1978 and 2013,and found increasing(decreasing)CO_(2) VMRs at high latitudes(mid and low latitudes)accordingly.For the first time,our simulation results demonstrate that the impact of geomagnetic variation on atmospheric CO_(2) distribution is noticeable on a time scale of decades.

A novel polarization interferometer for measuring upper atmospheric winds

A static polarization interferometer for measuring upper atmospheric winds is presented,based on two Savart plates with their optical axes perpendicular to each other.The principle and characteristics of the interferometer are described.The interferometer with a wide field of view can offer a stable benchmark optical path difference over a specified spectral region of 0.55-0.63 μm because there are no quarter wave plates.Since the instrument employs a straight line common-path configuration but without moving parts and slits,it is very compact,simple,inherently robust and has high throughput.The paper is limited to a theoretical analysis.

Recent Advances in Research of the Chinese Meridian Project

The Chinese Meridian Project is a ground-based space environment monitoring facility in China.The first phase of the project has been put into formal operation since 2012 after 4-year’s construction.It consists of 15 observatories located roughly along 120°E longitude and 30°N latitude,with each observatory equipped with multiple instruments to monitor space environment.Based on the huge observational data accumulated,significant scientific achievements have been made with more than 300 peer-reviewed journal papers published.In this report,scientific results from the past two years have been reviewed with topics covering fields of geomagnetic,atmosphere,ionosphere,and their responses to solar activities.The excellent achievements from the Phase I of Chinese Meridian Project lay a good foundation for Phase II,which has already been approved with the official kick-off of construction in November 2019.It will conceive an unprecedented contribution to global space weather community from China.

A method of estimating the Martian neutral atmospheric density at 130 km, and comparison of its results with Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey aerobraking observations based on the Mars Climate Database outputs

Profiles of the Martian dayside ionosphere can be used to derive the neutral atmospheric densities at 130 km,which can also be obtained from the Mars Climate Database(MCD)and spacecraft aerobraking observations.In this research,we explain the method used to calculate neutral densities at 130 km via ionosphere observations and three long-period 130-km neutral density data sets at northern high latitudes(latitudes>60°)acquired through ionospheric data measured by the Mars Global Surveyor(MGS)Radio Occultation Experiment.The calculated 130-km neutral density data,along with 130-km density data from the aerobraking observations of the MGS and Mars Odyssey(ODY)in the northern high latitudes,were compared with MCD outputs at the same latitude,longitude,altitude,solar latitude,and local time.The 130-km density data derived from both the ionospheric profiles and aerobraking observations were found to show seasonal variations similar to those in the MCD data.With a negative shift of about 2×10^10 cm^−3,the corrected 130-km neutral densities derived from MCD v4.3 were consistent with those obtained from the two different observations.This result means that(1)the method used to derive the 130-km neutral densities with ionospheric profiles was effective,(2)the MCD v4.3 data sets generally overestimated the 130-km neutral densities at high latitudes,and(3)the neutral density observations from the MGS Radio Science Experiment could be used to calibrate a new atmospheric model of Mars.

Research Advances of the Chinese Meridian Project in 2020-2021

The Chinese Meridian Project(CMP)is a major national science and technology infrastructure invested and constructed by the Chinese government.The project builds space environment observation stations,focusing on the monitoring of the space environment over China,so as to provide a monitoring basis for clarifying the regional characteristics of the space environment over China and its relationship with global change,and making important innovative scientific achievements.The first phase of the CMP passed the national acceptance in 2012.It has been running for nearly ten years and has accumulated more than 8 TB monitoring data.These data are all available to all data users through the data center of the project.From 2020 to 2021,users of CMP data have completed a series of original works,which have solved current scientific problems in the field of space physics research.On the other hand,they also make us look forward to the completion of the second phase of CMP and its application benefits in national major strategic needs and cutting-edge scientific research.