SABER observations of mesospheric temperatures and comparisons with falling sphere measurements taken during the 2002 summer MaCWAVE campaign

The SABER instrument was launched onboard the TIMED satellite in December 2001. Vertical profiles of kinetic temperature (Tk) are derived from broadband measurements of CO 2 15 μm limb emission, in combination with measurements of CO 2 4.3 μm limb emission used to derive CO 2 volume mixing ratio (vmr). Infrared emission from the CO 2 ro‐vibrational bands are in non‐local thermodynamic equilibrium (non‐LTE) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT), requiring new radiation transfer and retrieval methods. In this paper we focus on Tk and show some of the first SABER observations of MLT Tk and compare SABER Tk profiles with rocket falling sphere (FS) measurements taken during the 2002 summer MaCWAVE campaign at Andøya, Norway (69°N, 16°E). The comparisons are very encouraging and demonstrate a significant advance in satellite remote sensing of MLT limb emission and the ability to retrieve Tk under extreme non‐LTE conditions.