Comparison of the Mesopause Temperature Measured at Different-Latitude Stations

Abstract

Since 2013, the optical station of Maimaga (63° N, 129.5° E) has been continuously recording the OH(3,1) hydroxyl band with a spectrograph operating in the near-infrared region (~1.5 μm). In September 2015, a similar spectrograph was mounted at the polar geophysical observatory located in the Tiksi urban locality (71.6° N, 128.7° E). The present work compares the seasonal variation of the mesopause temperature measured at two different- latitude stations. In addition, preliminary comparisons are made for overnight variations for several nights. The comparison shows that there is a very good correlation between data obtained at the two stations, with a correlation coefficient of 0.83. A comparison with the predictions of the CIRA and MSIS empirical atmospheric models revealed a number of discrepancies.