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- ItemOccurrence frequencies of polar mesosphere summer echoes observed at 69 N during a full solar cycle(Göttingen : Copernicus, 2013) Latteck, R.; Bremer, J.Polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) are strong enhancements of received signal power at very high radar frequencies occurring at altitudes between about 80 and 95 km at polar latitudes during summer. PMSE are caused by inhomogeneities in the electron density of the radar Bragg scale within the plasma of the cold summer mesopause region in the presence of negatively charged ice particles. Thus the occurrence of PMSE contains information about mesospheric temperature and water vapour content but also depends on the ionisation due to solar wave radiation and precipitating high energetic particles. Continuous and homogeneous observations of PMSE have been done on the North-Norwegian island Andøya (69.3 N, 16.0 E) from 1999 until 2008 using the ALWIN VHF radar at 53.5 MHz. In 2009 the Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Kühlungsborn, Germany (IAP) started the installation of the Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System (MAARSY) at the same location. The observation of mesospheric echoes could be continued in spring 2010 starting with an initial stage of expansion of MAARSY and is carried out with the completed installation of the radar since May 2011. Since both the ALWIN radar and MAARSY are calibrated, the received echo strength of PMSE from 14 yr of mesospheric observations could be converted to absolute signal power. Occurrence frequencies based on different common thresholds of PMSE echo strength were used for investigations of the solar and geomagnetic control of the PMSE as well as of possible long-term changes. The PMSE are positively correlated with the solar Lyman α radiation and the geomagnetic activity. The occurrence frequencies of the PMSE show slightly positive trends but with marginal significance levels.
- ItemTracing the Snowball bifurcation of aquaplanets through time reveals a fundamental shift in critical-state dynamics(Göttingen : Copernicus, 2023) Feulner, Georg; Bukenberger, Mona; Petri, StefanThe instability with respect to global glaciation is a fundamental property of the climate system caused by the positive ice-albedo feedback. The atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) at which this Snowball bifurcation occurs changes through Earth's history, most notably because of the slowly increasing solar luminosity. Quantifying this critical CO2 concentration is not only interesting from a climate dynamics perspective but also constitutes an important prerequisite for understanding past Snowball Earth episodes, as well as the conditions for habitability on Earth and other planets. Earlier studies are limited to investigations with very simple climate models for Earth's entire history or studies of individual time slices carried out with a variety of more complex models and for different boundary conditions, making comparisons and the identification of secular changes difficult. Here, we use a coupled climate model of intermediate complexity to trace the Snowball bifurcation of an aquaplanet through Earth's history in one consistent model framework. We find that the critical CO2 concentration decreased more or less logarithmically with increasing solar luminosity until about 1 billion years ago but dropped faster in more recent times. Furthermore, there was a fundamental shift in the dynamics of the critical state about 1.2 billion years ago (unrelated to the downturn in critical CO2 values), driven by the interplay of wind-driven sea-ice dynamics and the surface energy balance: for critical states at low solar luminosities, the ice line lies in the Ferrel cell, stabilised by the poleward winds despite moderate meridional temperature gradients under strong greenhouse warming. For critical states at high solar luminosities, on the other hand, the ice line rests at the Hadley cell boundary, stabilised against the equatorward winds by steep meridional temperature gradients resulting from the increased solar energy input at lower latitudes and stronger Ekman transport in the ocean.