Temperature of high pole clouds

2001/05/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Klima

Scientists have managed to measure the temperature of the clouds and the high atmosphere of the North and South Poles. To do this, researchers at Illinois University have used a lidar laser that works as a radar. So far, to measure high altitudes, probe balloons were used that could only measure temperatures up to 32 kilometers of altitude. This new laser can measure altitudes between 32 and 110 kilometers.

Two techniques have been used to perform measurements. To obtain a temperature profile of up to 80 kilometers of altitude, the air molecules have measured the reflected laser light. At higher altitudes, on the contrary, evaporated meteors from space have measured the dispersion of laser rays due to the iron atoms deposited in the high atmosphere. The temperature profiles obtained are then compared with those estimated by theoretical models.

It is observed that the results coincide in two cases: Estimates for the mesopause region on the South Pole on 27 January 2000 and estimates for the thermosphere region on the North Pole on 21 June 1999. In the case of the autumn of the southern hemisphere, on the contrary, the difference between the estimated and the measured reaches 20ºC. The data obtained will help to better understand the global circulation of the atmosphere and the global warming that will occur in the coming decades.