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Meteoric smoke and meteor influx from global SOFIE observations
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  • Mark E. Hervig,
  • John Maurice Campbell Plane,
  • David E. Siskind,
  • Wuhu Feng,
  • Charles Bardeen,
  • Scott Martin Bailey
Mark E. Hervig
GATS Inc.

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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John Maurice Campbell Plane
University of Leeds
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David E. Siskind
Naval Research Laboratory
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Wuhu Feng
University of Leeds
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Charles Bardeen
National Center for Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
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Scott Martin Bailey
Virginia Polytechnical Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA
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Abstract

Measurements from the Solar Occultation For Ice Experiment (SOFIE) are used to characterize meteoric smoke and meteor influx in both hemispheres. New smoke extinction retrievals from sunrise measurements in the Northern Hemisphere (NH) are presented, which complement the previously reported sunset observations in the Southern Hemisphere (SH). The sunrise observations are in good agreement with simulations from the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM), for both the seasonal and height dependence of smoke in the mesosphere. The SOFIE - WACCM comparisons assumed that smoke in the mesosphere exists purely as Fe-rich olivine. This is justified because olivine is detected optically by SOFIE, it has the same elemental abundance as incoming meteoroids, and it is anticipated by theory and laboratory experiments. Treating mesospheric smoke as olivine furthermore brings closure in terms of the ablated and total meteoric influx determined here from SOFIE and a recent and independent investigation based on models and observations. SOFIE observations from 2007 - 2021 indicate a global ablated meteoric influx of 7.3 +/- 2.0 metric tons per day (t/d), which corresponds to a total influx (ablated plus surviving material) of 25.0 +/- 7.0 t/d. Finally, SOFIE indicates less smoke in the polar winter SH compared to NH winter. Finally, the results indicate stronger descent in the NH polar winter mesosphere than in the SH winter. This hemispheric asymmetry is indicated by smoke and water vapor results from both SOFIE and WACCM.