A Puzzling Collapse of Earth's Upper Atmosphere

[durabone]

Found this on NASA site:

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/15jul_thermosphere/

Is it true that this means that the upper atmosphere is cooler?

Enjoy

 

[Bobo08]

Yes, it means the upper atmosphere is cooler AND they cannot explain it.

I find these plots interesting:

Frames (a) and (c) are of the upper atmosphere density; frame (b) is the sun's radio intensity at a wavelength of 10.7 cm, a key indicator of solar activity. Over the years, the minimums in frame (b) remain quite constant, but the minimums in frames (a) and (c) get progressively lower, with the latest minimum lower than even what the trend (the green line in frame (c)) would predict. Something else beside the solar miniums is making the upper atmosphere cooler, it seems.

 

[RedFox]

Something else beside the solar miniums is making the upper atmosphere cooler, it seems.

Cometary dust?? If they are metallic in nature that would also have a highly reflective/scattering property on radio waves and other wavelengths (infra red etc) from the sun......even if they are not metallic they would still have some effect.

 

[bngenoh]

This:

Something else beside the solar miniums is making the upper atmosphere cooler, it seems.

Cometary dust?? If they are metallic in nature that would also have a highly reflective/scattering property on radio waves and other wavelengths (infra red etc) from the sun......even if they are not metallic they would still have some effect.

Reminds me of this:

The temperature and humidity of the air affects how long contrails last. When air is dry, contrails last just seconds or minutes. But when the air is humid, as was the case here, contrails can be long-lived and spread outward until they become difficult to distinguish from naturally occurring cirrus clouds. Satellites have observed clusters of contrails lasting as long as 14 hours, though most remain visible for four to six hours.

The long-lived, spreading contrails are of great interest to climate scientists because they reflect sunlight and trap infrared radiation. A contrail in an otherwise clear sky reduces the amount of solar radiation that reaches Earth’s surface, while increasing the amount of infrared radiation absorbed by the atmosphere (as do cirrus clouds).

These opposing effects make it difficult for scientists to pin down the effect contrails have on climate. “Overall, contrails create additional cirrus cloud cover,” noted Patrick Minnis, a senior scientist at NASA's Langley Research Center.

Cosmic rays seeding clouds, interplanetary dust loading of the atmosphere causing it to become "heavier" thus sinking?