From 1995 through 2001 the University of Illinois lidar group operated Na and
Fe lidars at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. These systems collected
data throughout the year on stratospheric and mesospheric temperatures, mesospheric
Na and Fe densities, and polar mesospheric clouds (PMC). Displayed below in
color contour format are the mean temperature, Na density, and Fe density derived
from these observations. By combining the lidar observations with daily balloonsonde
measurements at South Pole, the weekly mean temperature profiles were derived
from the surface (2.835 km) to 110 km. The data used for these plots are available
for download by following the link after the figure captions.
The University of Illinois should be acknowledged and the appropriate paper referenced whenever these data are used in other publications or presentations.
References
Pan, W., C.S. Gardner, R.G. Roble, The temperature structure of the winter atmosphere at South Pole, Geophys. Res. Lett., 29(16), 10.1029/2002GL015288, 2002.
Pan, W. and C.S. Gardner, Seasonal variations of the atmospheric temperature structure at South Pole, J. Geophys. Res., 108(D18), 4564, doi:10.1029/2002JD003217, 2003.
Gardner, C.S., J. M. C. Plane, W. Pan, T. Vondrak, B. J. Murray, and X. Chu, Seasonal Variations of the Mesospheric Na and Fe Layers at South Pole, submitted, J. Geophys. Res., 2004.
Kawahara, T. D., C. S. Gardner, A. Nomura, Observed temperature structure of the atmosphere above Syowa Station, Antarctica (69 S, 39 E), J. Geophys. Res., 109(D12103), doi:10.1029/2003JD003918, 2004
Figure 1. Observed and fitted monthly mean temperature profiles from the surface to 110 km at South Pole. Balloon data are plotted as solid blue curves, lidar data as solid red curves, MSIS-00 as dashed green curves, and the 6th order polynomial fits as solid black curves. Supplemental data points used to constrain the polynomial fits are plotted as black squares (MSIS-00 data) and red circles (lidar data). The vertical resolution is 250 m for balloon data, and 500 m for the rest. Click here to download the data.
Figure 2. Combined weekly mean balloon temperatures and monthly mean lidar temperatures, with the 6th order polynomial fits filling in the gaps. For weeks spanning two consecutive months, the temperatures are interpolated using the monthly mean temperatures at those altitudes not covered by weekly balloon data. Click here to download the data.
Figure 3. The observed weekly mean temperature structure of the atmosphere above South Pole (UISP-02) plotted from 3 to 110 km. Polar nights (24 h darkness) occur between the white curves at 90S, and between the black curves at 80S. The UISP-02 data set used in this figure was generated by first computing the mean plus 12- and 6-month harmonic variations at each altitude using the temperature profiles in Figure 2, then subtracting the mean and harmonic fits from the observed temperature time series, and smoothing the residual variations using a Hamming window with a time resolution of 1 week and a FWHM of 6 weeks. Click here to download the data.
Figure 4. (a) RMS and (b) weekly heating/cooling rates derived from the UISP-02 observational data. Polar nights (24 h darkness) occur between the white curves at 90S, and between the black curves at 80S. Click here to download the data.
Figure 5. Weekly mean density profiles of the mesospheric Fe layer observed at South Pole. The vertical resolution is 500 m. Click here to download the data.
Figure 6. Weekly mean density profiles of the mesospheric Na layer observed at South Pole. The vertical resolution is 500 m. Click here to download the data.
Figure 7. The observed weekly mean Fe density profiles at South Pole comprising the UISP-02 model. Polar night (24 h darkness) occurs between the white curves. The Fe density data set used in this figure was generated by first computing the mean plus 12- and 6-month harmonic variations at each altitude using the weekly mean Fe density profiles in Figure 5, then subtracting the mean and harmonic fits from the observed Fe density time series, and smoothing the residuals using a Hamming window with a time resolution of 1 week and a FWHM of 8 weeks. Click here to download the data.
Figure 8. The observed weekly mean Na density profiles at South Pole comprising the UISP-02 model. Polar night (24 h darkness) occurs between the white curves. The Na density data set used in this figure was generated by first computing the mean plus 12- and 6-month harmonic variations at each altitude using the weekly mean Na density profiles in Figure 6, then subtracting the mean and harmonic fits from the observed Na density time series, and smoothing the residuals using a Hamming window with a time resolution of 1 week and a FWHM of 8 weeks. Click here to download the data.