OH airglow observations with two identical spectrometers: benefits of increased data homogeneity in the identification of variations induced by the 11-year solar cycle, the QBO, and other factors

Schmidt, Carsten; Küchelbacher, Lisa; Wüst, Sabine; Bittner, Michael

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4331-2023

Articles | Volume 16, issue 19

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4331-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-16-4331-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 16, issue 19

Research article

|

04 Oct 2023

Research article |

| 04 Oct 2023

OH airglow observations with two identical spectrometers: benefits of increased data homogeneity in the identification of variations induced by the 11-year solar cycle, the QBO, and other factors

Carsten Schmidt, Lisa Küchelbacher, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner

Data sets

Nocturnal means of OH(3-1) airglow rotational temperatures (version 1.0) from the mesopause region obtained at the Environmental Research Station “Schneefernerhaus” between 2009 and 2020, Germany Carsten Schmidt, Lisa Küchelbacher, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner https://doi.org/10.26042/WDCRSAT.XZB5TZQG

Nocturnal means of OH(3-1) airglow rotational temperatures (version 1.0A) from the mesopause region obtained at the Environmental Research Station “Schneefernerhaus” between 2009 and 2020, Germany Carsten Schmidt, Lisa Küchelbacher, Sabine Wüst, and Michael Bittner https://doi.org/10.26042/WDCRSAT.Y0AOE0PZ

Model code and software

WaveletComp: Computational Wavelet Analysis A. Roesch and H. Schmidbauer https://CRAN.R-project.org/package=WaveletComp

Short summary

Two identical instruments in a parallel setup were used to observe the mesospheric OH airglow for more than 10 years (2009–2020) at 47.42°N, 10.98°E. This allows unique analyses of data quality aspects and their impact on the obtained results. During solar cycle 24 the influence of the sun was strong (∼6 K per 100 sfu). A quasi-2-year oscillation (QBO) of ±1 K is observed mainly during the maximum of the solar cycle. Unlike the stratospheric QBO the variation has a period of or below 24 months.