Diurnal and semidiurnal nitrogen density and temperature variations from thermosphere probe measurements.

Amplitudes and phases for the diurnal and semidiurnal variations of thermospheric molecular nitrogen density and temperature are determined from data obtained by six rocket-launched thermosphere probes. The semidiurnal tide is significant for the lower thermosphere variations, where it could dominate in the N2 density at 140 km and in the temperature for altitudes between 170 and 200 km. At exospheric heights, the magnitudes of the semidiurnal modes in density and temperature are significantly smaller than those of the diurnal mode. The temperature phase is height-dependent in both diurnal and semidiurnal components below 200 km, thus contributing to phase differences between N2 density and temperature in both modes. No significant phase differences are apparent between N2 density and thermospheric temperature above 250 km.