Publication:

Figure: The left three figures show the GUVI satellite observations of Lyman a line from the plume, right after launch, 1 day and 2 days after, respectively, in red and white color. The right figure indicates the location of plumes in their model 1 day (green), 2.2 days (blue) and 3 days (red) after release.

(1) Fast meridional transport in the lower thermosphere by planetary-scale waves
Yue, J., and H.L. Liu (2010), Fast meridional transport in the lower thermosphere by large-scale waves, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys., submitted.

Abstract: The shuttle main engine plume composed of water vapor and iron was released at ~110 km height when the ill-fated Columbia space shuttle was launched in January 2003. The plume was further transported from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, quickly to Antarctica within 3 days [Stevens et al., 2005]. The left three figures show the GUVI satellite observations of Lyman a line from the plume, right after launch, 1 day and 2 days after, respectively, in red and white color. This fast transport mechanism remains a mystery in the upper atmosphere dynamics because the mean meridional circulation at that height is much weaker than what observed here. Jia Yue and Hanli Liu performed diagnostic calculations to trace the particles with an adjusted quasi-two-day planetary wave and atmospheric thermal tides generated by the NCAR TIME-GCM. The right figure indicates the location of plumes in their model 1 day (green), 2.2 days (blue) and 3 days (red) after release. The location to release the tracer is denoted by the black strip near 30°N. The red line marks the latitude of the Antarctica station at 67°S. It shows that we can simulate this fast meridional transport in our model. After three days of release over Florida at 30°N, the tracer reaches Antarctica (latitude 65°S). For the first time, the combined effect of Rossby waves and tides driving the fast southward wind was proposed and demonstrated with the NCAR model results.