Long-Term Density Trend in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere from
Occultations of the Crab Nebula with X-Ray Astronomy Satellites
Abstract
We present long-term density trends of the Earth’s upper atmosphere at
altitudes between 71 and 116 km, based on atmospheric occultations of
the Crab Nebula observed with X-ray astronomy satellites, ASCA, RXTE,
Suzaku, NuSTAR, and Hitomi. The combination of the five satellites
provides a time period of 28 yr from 1994 to 2022. To suppress seasonal
and latitudinal variations, we concentrate on the data taken in autumn
(49 < doy < 111) and spring (235 < doy
< 297) in the northern hemisphere with latitudes of 0◦–40◦.
With this constraint, local times are automatically limited either
around noon or midnight. We obtain four sets (two seasons × two local
times) of density trends at each altitude layer. We take into account
variations due to a linear trend and the 11-yr solar cycle using linear
regression techniques. Because we do not see significant differences
among the four trends, we combine them to provide a single vertical
profile of trend slopes. We find a negative density trend of roughly
−5%/decade at every altitude. This is in reasonable agreement with
inferences from settling rate of the upper atmosphere. In the 100–110
km altitude, we found an exceptionally high density decline of about
−12%/decade. This peak may be the first observational evidence for
strong cooling due to water vapor and ozone near 110 km, which was first
identified in a numerical simulation by Akmaev et al. (2006). Further
observations and numerical simulations with suitable input parameters
are needed to establish this feature.