Long-Term Temperature Trend in the Mesopause Region from Observations of Hydroxyl Airglow in Zvenigorod

The study analyzes the long-term average annual OH* temperature trend, the values of which were obtained from nighttime spectral measurements of hydroxyl airglow bands at Zvenigorod research station (56° N, 37° E) from 1957 to 2022. At present, this OH* temperature series, which reflects the thermal state of the mesopause region, is the longest in the world. On its basis, the linear trend and response of temperature to changes in solar activity are estimated both in general for the entire data set and for individual time intervals. In the first case, the trend was –0.23 ± 0.04 K/year. In the second case, the analysis showed a strong cooling in the mesopause region (–0.53 ± 0.34 K/yr) until the 1970s, which subsequently slowed to –0.14 ± 0.03 K/yr. Comparison of the results with other measurements and model calculations shows that the latter have lower trend values. It is suggested that the causes of the temperature trend, in addition to the increase in greenhouse gases, the main one being CO 2 , can be due to long-term changes in the dynamics of the upper atmosphere.