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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">EGUsphere</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>EGUsphere</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">EGUsphere</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub"></issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/egusphere-2026-2411</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>Sodium Lidar observed multiple sodium layer structures and their dynamical coupling mechanism</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Jia</surname>
<given-names>Yuxia</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Ban</surname>
<given-names>Chao</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Li</surname>
<given-names>Tao</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5100-4429</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Fang</surname>
<given-names>Xin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wu</surname>
<given-names>Zhaopeng</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Wu</surname>
<given-names>Jianfei</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3998-9296</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Pan</surname>
<given-names>Weilin</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Yang</surname>
<given-names>Chengyun</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9984-637X</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>National Key Laboratory of Deep Space Exploration/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, Anhui, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>State Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Environment and Extreme Meteorology, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Key Laboratory of Planetary Science and Frontier Technology, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>22</day>
<month>05</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>2026</volume>
<fpage>1</fpage>
<lpage>19</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Yuxia Jia et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2411/">This article is available from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2411/</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2411/egusphere-2026-2411.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://egusphere.copernicus.org/preprints/2026/egusphere-2026-2411/egusphere-2026-2411.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>On the night of 13 June 2013, the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) sodium lidar observed multiple sporadic sodium layers (SSLs) and enhanced sodium patterns (ESPs) over Hefei, China (31.8&amp;deg;N, 117.3&amp;deg;E). These structures appeared at different times, collectively spanning nearly the entire night, and exhibited distinct vertical motions and horizontal propagation behaviors. Their propagation was closely linked to the background horizontal wind, indicating the role of horizontal transport. Combined observations from the nearby meteor radar and ionosonde in Wuhan (~200 miles west of Hefei) revealed that SSLs occurring before 19:30 UT are closely associated with the sporadic E (Es) layer. The evolution of the Es layer shows an overall downward propagation consistent with tidal wind variations, suggesting that tidal waves modulate ion distribution and associated sodium production. Notably, two ESP events exhibit quasi-periodic structures with periods of ~50&amp;ndash;60 minutes, accompanied by similar oscillations in the Es layer and associated ion convergence regions. This behavior indicates that the atmospheric gravity waves may also modulate the horizontal wind, thereby influencing ion convergence, the Es layer, and sodium density. These observations provide new insights into the roles of wave-modulated horizontal winds in driving sodium-layer variability and underscore the importance of coupled neutral&amp;ndash;ion processes in the MLT region.</p>
</abstract>
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<funding-group>
<award-group id="gs1">
<funding-source>National Key Research and Development Program of China</funding-source>
<award-id>2022YFF0503703</award-id>
</award-group>
<award-group id="gs2">
<funding-source>National Natural Science Foundation of China</funding-source>
<award-id>42130203</award-id>
<award-id>42394121</award-id>
<award-id>42276258</award-id>
</award-group>
</funding-group>
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</front>
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<back>
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