Solar response in the temperature over the equatorial middle atmosphere

Abstract

One of the longest temperature records available for the equatorial region is provided by Rocketsonde from Thumba (8°N, 77°E), India during the period 1971-1993. In recent times, these data sets are reanalyzed using the up-to-date regression models, which take care of several corrections and parameters, not accounted for in earlier analyses and hence affecting the conclusions. In this paper, annual mean solar response in this data set along with the seasonal solar coefficient is quantitatively estimated now with improved confidence. A negative solar response in the stratosphere (1-2 K/100 solar flux unit, sfu) and a positive response for the mesosphere (0.5-3 K/100 sfu) are found. The negative stratospheric solar response is in contrast to the solar coefficient reported for low latitudes by earlier workers for other stations.