The Simulation Study of the Sodium Layer Diurnal Variation in the Mesopause Region

Abstract It is very important for understanding the mesopause and lower thermosphere region to study the sodium layer. The atomic Na layer can be a tracer for the atmospheric dynamical process, such as, the tidal wave and gravity waves. Therefore, the observation of Na layer is one of the important method to study the dynamical process in the mesopause region. In this paper, we combine a time‐dependent photochemical model, the International Reference Ionosphere model (IRI‐95) and a photochemical model of sodium to develop a time‐dependent sodium photochemical model. The diurnal variation of the sodium layer is studied by this model. The results indicate that there is no obvious diurnal variation near the peak of sodium layer. However, at upper and lower parts of the sodium layer, there are diurnal variations. The results are consistent with the observations.