[1] The new NRLMSISE-00 empirical atmospheric model extends from the ground to the exobase and is a major upgrade of the MSISE-90 model in the thermosphere. The new model and the associated NRLMSIS database now include the following data: (1) total mass density from satellite accelerometers and from orbit determination (including the Jacchia and Barlier data sets), (2) temperature from incoherent scatter radar covering 1981-1997, and (3) molecular oxygen number density, [O 2 ], from solar ultraviolet occultation aboard the Solar Maximum Mission. A new component, ''anomalous oxygen,'' allows for appreciable O + and hot atomic oxygen contributions to the total mass density at high altitudes and applies primarily to drag estimation above 500 km. Extensive tables compare our entire database to the NRLMSISE-00, MSISE-90, and Jacchia-70 models for different altitude bands and levels of geomagnetic activity. We also explore scientific issues related to the new data sets in the NRLMSIS database. Especially noteworthy is the solar activity dependence of the Jacchia data, with which we study a large O + contribution to the total mass density under the combination of summer, low solar activity, high latitude, and high altitude. Under these conditions, except at very low solar activity, the Jacchia data and the Jacchia-70 model indeed show a significantly higher total mass density than does MSISE-90. However, under the corresponding winter conditions, the MSIS-class models represent a noticeable improvement relative to Jacchia-70 over a wide range of F 10.7 . Considering the two regimes together, NRLMSISE-00 achieves an improvement over both MSISE-90 and Jacchia-70 by incorporating advantages of each.

[1] The new Horizontal Wind Model (HWM07) provides a statistical representation of the horizontal wind fields of the Earth's atmosphere from the ground to the exosphere (0-500 km). It represents over 50 years of satellite, rocket, and ground-based wind measurements via a compact Fortran 90 subroutine. The computer model is a function of geographic location, altitude, day of the year, solar local time, and geomagnetic activity. It includes representations of the zonal mean circulation, stationary planetary waves, migrating tides, and the seasonal modulation thereof. HWM07 is composed of two components, a quiet time component for the background state described in this paper and a geomagnetic storm time component (DWM07) described in a companion paper.

The Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) onboard the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite senses far ultraviolet emissions from O and N 2 in the thermosphere. Transformation of far ultraviolet radiances measured on the Earth limb into O, N 2 , and O 2 number densities and temperature quantifies these responses and demonstrates the value of simultaneous altitude and geographic information. Composition and temperature variations are available from 2002 to 2007. This paper documents the extraction of these data products from the limb emission rates. We present the characteristics of the GUVI limb observations, retrievals of thermospheric neutral composition and temperature from the forward model, and the dramatic changes of the thermosphere with the solar cycle and geomagnetic activity. We examine the solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) irradiance magnitude and trends through comparison with simultaneous Solar Extreme EUV (SEE) measurements on TIMED and find the EUV irradiance inferred from GUVI averaged (2002-2007) 30% lower magnitude than SEE version 11 and varied less with solar activity. The smaller GUVI variability is not consistent with the view that lower solar EUV radiation during the past solar minimum is the cause of historically low thermospheric mass densities. Thermospheric O and N 2 densities are lower than the NRLMSISE-00 model, but O 2 is consistent. We list some lessons learned from the GUVI program along with several unresolved issues.

[1] Atmospheric sound waves in the 0.02-10 Hz region, also known as infrasound, exhibit long-range global propagation characteristics. Measurable infrasound is produced around the globe on a daily basis by a variety of natural and man-made sources. As a result of weak classical attenuation ($0.01 dB km À1 at 0.1 hz), these acoustic signals can propagate thousands of kilometers in tropospheric, stratospheric, and lower thermospheric ducts. To model this propagation accurately, detailed knowledge of the background atmospheric state variables, the global winds and temperature fields from the ground to $170 km, is required. For infrasound propagation calculations, we have developed a unique atmospheric specification system (G2S) that is capable of providing this information. Using acoustic ray tracing methods and detailed G2S atmospheric specifications, we investigate the major aspects of the spatiotemporal variability of infrasound propagation characteristics.