The Need for Better Monitoring of Climate Change in the Middle and Upper Atmosphere
Abstract Anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions significantly impact the middle and upper atmosphere. They cause cooling and thermal shrinking and affect the atmospheric structure. Atmospheric contraction results in changes in key atmospheric features, such as the stratopause height or the peak ionospheric electron density, and also results in reduced thermosphere density. These changes can impact, among others, the lifespan of objects in low Earth orbit, refraction of radio communication and GPS signals, and the peak altitudes of meteoroids entering the Earth's atmosphere. Given this, there is a critical need for observational capabilities to monitor the middle and upper atmosphere. Equally important is the commitment to maintaining and improving long‐term, homogeneous data collection. However, capabilities to observe the middle and upper atmosphere are decreasing rather than improving.
Authors
- Scott Osprey (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8751-1211)
- Juan Carlos Antuña (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7037-015X)
- Matthew K. Brown (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5043-1330)
- Juan Antonio Añel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2448-4647)
- Viktoria Sofieva (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9192-2208)
- Shun‐Rong Zhang (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1946-3166)
- Laura de la Torre (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5305-6946)
- M. G. Mlynczak (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7578-1003)
- Gufran Beig (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5564-7210)
- Shaylah Mutschler (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2510-6621)
- Eelco Doornbos (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9790-8546)
- Ingrid Cnossen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6469-7861)
- Petr Šácha (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9707-1750)
- Celia Pérez Souto (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1415-654X)
Institutions
- Finnish Meteorological Institute (FI)
- Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (NL)
- Langley Research Center (US)
- British Antarctic Survey (GB)
- Charles University (CZ)
- National Institute of Advanced Studies (IN)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- National Centre for Atmospheric Science (GB)
- Space Environment Technologies (United States) (US)
- Universidade de Vigo (ES)
- University of Birmingham (GB)
- International Space Science Institute (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- AGU Advances
- Published
- 2025-02-28
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2024av001465
- Citations
- 3
- Primary Topic
- Climate variability and models
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 3.32
Funders
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Technology Agency of the Czech Republic
- Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, Xunta de Galicia
- Natural Environment Research Council
- Heliophysics Division