Lidar Observations and Formation Mechanism of the Structure of Stratospheric and Mesospheric Aerosol Layers over Kamchatka

Cheremisin A.A.1, Novikov P.V.2, Shnipov I.S.2, Bychkov V.V.3, Shevtsov B.M.3
  1. Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk
  2. Krasnoyarsk Institute of Rail Transport, Branch of Irkutsk State University of Railway Transport, Krasnoyarsk
  3. Institute of Cosmophysical Research and Radiowave Propagation, Far Eastern Branch, Russian Academy of Sciences, ul. Mirnaya 7, Paratunka, Kamchatskaya oblast, 684034 Russia

Lidar observations during 2007–2008 in Kamchatka revealed aerosol layers in the upper stratosphere at heights of 35–50 km and in the mesosphere at heights of 60–75 km. It is well known that forces of
gas–kinetic nature, i.e., photophoretic forces, act on aerosol particles that absorb solar radiation and terrestrial IR radiation; these forces can counteract the gravitational force and even lead to the levitation of these
particles at particular heights. The accumulation of particles at these heights may lead to the formation of aerosol layers. We calculated these forces for the conditions of lidar observations in Kamchatka. Aerosol layers
were observed at heights where particle levitation can occur. Thus, the stratospheric and mesospheric aerosol layers, detected at heights of 30–50 and 60–75 km, respectively, may be due to the effect of the photophoretic
force on aerosol particles.
 

A. A. Cheremisin, P. V. Novikov, I. S. Shnipov, V. V. Bychkov, B. M. Shevtsov, Lidar Observations and Formation Mechanism of the Structure of Stratospheric and Mesospheric Aerosol Layers over Kamchatka // Geomagnetism and Aeronomy, 2012, Vol. 52, No. 5, pp. 653–663.