Tim Kane, The Pennsylvania State University, tjk7@psu.edu
Rich Collins, University of Alaska, rlc@gi.alaska.edu
NIST 1107, 5:00-6:00 PM
Wednesday, June 28, 2000
This brief workshop will offer an open forum from which to discuss the aeronomy of the meteoric metals present in Earth’s middle and upper atmosphere. The atomic forms of these species, among them sodium (Na), iron (Fe), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), etc., have been observed from the ground using resonance Lidar systems for many years. Remarkably, there is still much to be learned about the behavior of these metals (e.g., X. Chu, "High Latitude Observations Using the University of Illinois Iron Boltzmann Temperature Lidar"; Wednesday morning).
John Plane, from the University of East Anglia, will kick-off this workshop with an overview of our current understanding of the chemical and dynamical evolution and sinking of the metals. The floor will then open to discuss where years of metal density measurements have gotten us and, more importantly, where the future lies in continuing metal density measurements (e.g. simultaneous Fe and Na measurements, etc.).
The origin of these metals was discussed in a previous workshop (Meteors, Tuesday). The use of these species, specifically Na, as a means to measure temperature and winds near the mesopause will also be addressed in alternate workshops (e.g. Analyzing Waves in Resonance Lidar Data, 1:00 Wednesday and Mesopause Region and Below Posters, Wednesday Eve).
Note: Unfortunately, this workshop will need to end promptly as the Maui/MALT workshop follows directly after it!