Mean pressure distribution and geostrophic circulation in the meteor zone

Boutko et al., used available satellite radiometer data to estimate 0.1 mb constant pressure heights in the mesosphere and Koshelkov and Kovshova derived, 0.1 to 0.005 mb or 0.1 to 0.001 mb layer thickness from which were compiled height fields of the 0.005 mb and 0.001 mb levels. The close relationship discovered between mean thicknesses and zonal values of atmospheric radiances observed in channel 3000 of the pressure modulated radiometer was used. An analysis of the geopotential height fields in the lower thermosphere of the Southern Hemisphere was carried out by others. The Northern Hemisphere patterns are analyzed herein. The analysis was limited to regions north of 20 N due to poor reliability of the thickness estimates from the radiometer data at low latitudes. These analyses are discussed.