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A 31 MHz meteor radar located in Svalbard was used to observe polar mesospheric echoes (PMSEs) during summer 2020. Data from 19 July were selected for detailed analysis, with a focus on extracting additional information to characterize the atmosphere in the PMSE region. The use of an all-sky meteor radar adds an additional use to data collected for meteor observations and enables the detection of PMSE layers across a wide field of view. Comparison with data from a 53.5 MHz narrow-beam mesosphere–stratosphere–troposphere (MST) radar shows good agreement in the morphology of the layer as detected between the two systems. Doppler spectra of PMSE layers reveal fine structure, including regions of enhanced return that move across the radar's field of view. Examination of the relationship between range and Doppler shift of off-zenith portions of the layer enables the estimation of wind speeds with high temporal resolution during PMSE conditions. Trials demonstrate good agreement between wind speeds obtained from PMSE Doppler spectra and those calculated from specular meteor trail radial velocities. Combined with the antenna polar diagram of the radar, this same relationship was used to infer the aspect sensitivity of observed PMSE backscatter, yielding a mean backscatter angular width of 6.8±3.3∘. A comparison of underdense meteor radar echo decay times during and outside of PMSE conditions did not demonstrate a strong correlation between the presence of PMSEs and shortened underdense meteor radar echo durations.

This paper assesses the ability of a recently installed 55 MHz multistatic meteor radar to measure gravity-wave-driven momentum fluxes around the mesopause and applies it in a case study of measuring gravity wave forcing on the diurnal tide during a period following the autumnal equinox of 2018. The radar considered is in the vicinity of Adelaide, South Australia (34.9∘ S, 138.6∘ E), and consists of a monostatic radar and bistatic receiver separated by approximately 55 km. The assessment shows that the inclusion of the bistatic receiver reduces the relative uncertainty of the momentum flux estimate from about 75 % to 65 % (for a flux magnitude of ∼20 m2 s−2, 1 d's worth of integration, and for a gravity wave field synthesized from a realistic spectral model). This increase in precision appears to be entirely attributable to the increased number of meteor detections associated with the combined monostatic and bistatic receivers rather than changes in the meteors' spatial distribution. The case study reveals large modulations in the diurnal tidal amplitudes, with a maximum tidal amplitude of ∼50 m s−1 and an associated maximum zonal wind velocity of around 140 m s−1. While the observed gravity wave forcing exhibits a complex relationship with the tidal winds during this period, the components of the forcing are seen to be approximately out of phase with the tidal winds above 88 km. No clear phase relationship has been observed below 88 km.

All-sky meteor radars are primarily used for meteor observations. This paper reports the first observations of ionospheric E-region field-aligned irregularities (FAIs) from a conventional all-sky meteor radar located at Wuhan (31°N, 114°E) for the period of March–June 2018. E-region FAI echoes evident in range-time intensity (RTI) maps show quasiperiodic striations with positive and negative slopes, which are consistent with multiple FAI structures moving across the wide beam of the meteor radar. A statistical analysis shows that out of a total of 111 d, there are 73 d with E-region FAI echoes detected by the meteor radar. The FAI events correspond well with the presence of sporadic-E layers which provide the necessary plasma density gradient for the development of gradient drift instability producing FAIs. The results demonstrate the capability of conventional meteor radars to make simultaneous routine observations of meteors and ionospheric E-region FAIs through incorporating RTI and spectral analysis into the online realtime data processing. Meteor radar observations could potentially address the limitations of ionospheric radars, which cannot provide simultaneous measurements of neutral winds and irregularity structures, and thereby contribute to better understanding of the dynamical processes producing E-region irregularities.

The structure, variability, and mean-flow interactions of the quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere during January 2015 were studied employing meteor and medium-frequency radar winds at eight sites from 23°S to 76°S and Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) temperature and geopotential height measurements from 30°S to 80°S. The event had a duration of ~20–25 days, dominant periods of ~44–52 hr, temperature amplitudes as large as ~16 K, and zonal and meridional wind amplitudes as high as ~40 and 80 m/s, respectively, at middle and lower latitudes. MLS measurements enabled definition of balance winds that agreed well with radar wind amplitudes and phases at middle latitudes where amplitudes were large and quantification of the various Q2DW modes contributing to the full wave field. The Q2DW event was composed primarily of the westward zonal wavenumber 3 (W3) mode but also had measurable amplitudes in other westward modes W1, W2, and W4; eastward modes E1 and E2; and stationary mode S0. Of the secondary modes, W1, W2, and E2 had the larger amplitudes. Inferred MLS balance winds enabled estimates of the Eliassen-Palm fluxes for each mode, and cumulative zonal accelerations that were found to be in reasonable agreement with radar estimates from ~35°S to 70°S at the lower altitudes at which radar winds were available.

We present a study of migrating and non-migrating tidal winds observed simultaneously by three meteor radars situated in the southern equatorial region. The radars are located at Cariri (7.4° S, 36.5° W), Brazil, Kototabang (0.2° S, 100.3° E), Indonesia and Darwin (12.3° S, 130.8° E), Australia. Harmonic analysis was used to obtain amplitudes and phases for diurnal and semidiurnal solar migrating and non-migrating tides between 80 and 100 km altitude during the period 2005 to 2008. They include the important tidal components of diurnal westward-propagating zonal wavenumber 1 (DW1), diurnal eastward-propagating zonal wavenumber 3 (DE3), semidiurnal westward-propagating zonal wavenumber 2 (SW2), and semidiurnal eastward-propagating zonal wavenumber 2 (SE2). In addition, we also present a climatology of these wind tides and analyze the reliability of the fitting through the reference to Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM) winds. The analysis suggests that the migrating tides could be well fitted by the three different radars, but the non-migrating tides might be overestimated. The results based on observations were also compared with the Climatological Tidal Model of the Thermosphere (CTMT). In general, climatic features between observations and model migrating tides were satisfactory in both wind components. However, the features of the DW1, DE3 and SW2 amplitudes in both wind components were slightly different from the results of the CTMT models. This result is probably because tides could be enhanced by the 2006 northern hemisphere stratospheric sudden warming (NH-SSW) event.

In recent years, the concept of multistatic meteor radar systems has attracted the attention of the atmospheric radar community, focusing on the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). Recently, there have been some notable experiments using multistatic meteor radar systems (Chau et al., 2019; Spargo et al., 2019; Stober and Chau, 2015; Stober et al., 2018). Good spatial resolution is vital for meteor radars because nearly all parameter inversion processes rely on the accurate location of the meteor trail reflecting points. It is timely then for a careful discussion focussed on the error distribution of multistatic meteor radar systems. In this study, we discuss the measurement errors that affect the spatial resolution and obtain the resolution distribution in 3-dimensional space for the first time. The spatial resolution distribution can both help design a multistatic meteor radar system and improve the performance of existing radar systems. Moreover, the spatial resolution distribution allows the accuracy of retrieved parameters such as the wind field to be determined.

The Calbuco volcano in southern Chile (41.3&deg, S, 72.6&deg, W) underwent three separate eruptions on 22&ndash, 23 April 2015. Following the eruptions, distinct layers of enhanced lidar backscatter at 532 nm were observed in the lower stratosphere above Buckland Park, South Australia (34.6&deg, S, 138.5&deg, E), and Kingston, Tasmania (43.0&deg, S, 147.3&deg, E), during a small set of observations in April&ndash, May 2015. Using atmospheric trajectory modelling and measurements from the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) space-borne lidar and the Ozone Mapping Profiler Suite (OMPS) instrument on the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) satellite, we show that these layers were associated with the Calbuco eruptions. Buckland Park measurements on 30 April and 3 May detected discrete aerosol layers at and slightly above the tropopause, where the relative humidity was well below saturation. Stratospheric aerosol layers likely associated with the eruptions were observed at Kingston on 17 and 22 May in narrow discrete layers accompanied by weaker and more vertically extended backscatter. The measurements on 22 May provided a mean value of the particle linear depolarisation ratio within the main observed volcanic aerosol layer of 18.0 &plusmn, 3.0%, which was consistent with contemporaneous CALIOP measurements. The depolarisation measurements indicated that this layer consisted of a filament dominated by ash backscatter residing above a main region having likely more sulfate backscatter. Layer-average optical depths were estimated from the measurements. The mean lidar ratio for the volcanic aerosols on 22 May of 86 &plusmn, 37 sr is consistent with but generally higher than the mean for ground-based measurements for other volcanic events. The inferred optical depth for the main volcanic layer on 17 May was consistent with a value obtained from OMPS measurements, but a large difference on 22 May likely reflected the spatial inhomogeneity of the volcanic plume. Short-lived enhancements of backscatter near the tropopause of 17 May likely represented the formation cirrus that was aided by the presence of associated volcanic aerosols. We also provide evidence that gravity waves potentially influenced the layers, particularly in regard to the vertical motion observed in the strong layer on 22 May. Overall, these observations provide additional information on the dispersal and characteristics of the Calbuco aerosol plumes at higher southern latitudes than previously reported for ground-based lidar measurements.

During the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) 13 July 2014 research flight over the South Island of New Zealand, a multiscale spectrum of mountain waves (MWs) was observed. High‐resolution measurements of sodium densities were available from ~70 to 100 km for the duration of this flight. A comprehensive technique is presented for obtaining temperature perturbations, T′, from sodium mixing ratios over a range of altitudes, and these T′ were used to calculate the momentum flux (MF) spectra with respect to horizontal wavelengths, λH, for each flight segment. Spectral analysis revealed MWs with spectral power centered at λH of ~80, 120, and 220 km. The temperature amplitudes of these MWs varied between the four cross‐mountain flight legs occurring between 6:10UT and 9:10UT. The average spectral T′ amplitudes near 80 km in altitude ranged from 7–13 K for the 220 km λH MW and 4–8 K for the smaller λH MWs. These amplitudes decayed significantly up to 90 km, where a critical level for MWs was present. The average MF per unit mass near 80 km in altitude ranged from ~13 to 60 m²/s² across the varying spectra over the duration of the research flight and decayed to ~0 by 88 km in altitude. These MFs are large compared to zonal means and highlight the importance of MWs in the momentum budget of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere at times when they reach these altitudes.

An Australian network of oblique angle-of-arrival (AoA) ionosondes was installed as part of the ELOISE experimental campaign in September 2015, aimed at an improved understanding of the spatial and temporal structure of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) at mid-latitudes. In this paper, the array design and signal processing for the AoA sounder is described, along with a sample of results showing typical disturbance signatures. Realistic parameterized models of electron density perturbations, along with geometric ray tracing, were used to synthesize the effects of medium to large scale TIDs on the sounder observables and aid in classifying the measurements.

We revisit previously unpublished analysis of observations of the dynamics of the mesopause region over the Norwegian Island of Andoya (69°N, 16°E) made during a 1-week period in summer 1987 during the Middle Atmosphere Cooperation-Summer in Northern Europe (MAC-SINE) campaign using the mobile SOUSY VHF (53.5 MHz) Doppler radar operating in a six-beam mode. We do this in the light of: (1) more recent developments in the measurement of the components of the density-normalized Reynolds stress tensor using meteor radars, and with medium-frequency partial reflection radars using the hybrid Doppler interferometric technique, and (2) satellite measurements of the absolute upward flux of horizontal momentum. We consider of the density-normalized total upward flux of horizontal momentum $$\left( {\overline{{u^{\prime}w^{\prime}}} + \overline{{v^{\prime}w^{\prime}}} } \right)$$ for the 83–90 km height interval. Values of the component of the density-normalized flux for the 6 min to 12.8 h period range, after the tidal components have been removed, and the effects of the aspect sensitivity on the radar beam look directions have been accounted for vary between 5 m2 s−2 below 86 km and 13 m2 s−2 above 86 km. The major contribution is from the 6 to 12.8 h period range. The results of the analysis have implications for meteor radar estimates of momentum flux and also for Doppler radar measurements of the same term in the presence of aspect-sensitive scattering.

A data assimilation system (DAS) is described for global atmospheric reanalysis from 0- to 100-km altitude. We apply it to the 2014 austral winter of the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE), an international field campaign focused on gravity wave dynamics from 0 to 100 km, where an absence of reanalysis above 60 km inhibits research. Four experiments were performed from April to September 2014 and assessed for reanalysis skill above 50 km. A four-dimensional variational (4DVAR) run specified initial background error covariances statically. A hybrid-4DVAR (HYBRID) run formed background error covariances from an 80-member forecast ensemble blended with a static estimate. Each configuration was run at low and high horizontal resolution. In addition to operational observations below 50 km, each experiment assimilated 105 observations of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) every 6 h. While all MLT reanalyses show skill relative to independent wind and temperature measurements, HYBRID outperforms 4DVAR. MLT fields at 1-h resolution (6-h analysis and 1–5-h forecasts) outperform 6-h analysis alone due to a migrating semidiurnal (SW2) tide that dominates MLT dynamics and is temporally aliased in 6-h time series. MLT reanalyses reproduce observed SW2 winds and temperatures, including phase structures and 10–15-day amplitude vacillations. The 0–100-km reanalyses reveal quasi-stationary planetary waves splitting the stratopause jet in July over New Zealand, decaying from 50 to 80 km then reintensifying above 80 km, most likely via MLT forcing due to zonal asymmetries in stratospheric gravity wave filtering.

A method has been developed to determine the angle-of-arrival (AoA) of incident radiation using pre-computed lookup tables. The phase difference between two receiving antennas can be used to infer AoA as measured from the pair baseline, but there will be more than one possible solution for antenna spacings greater than or equal to half a wavelength. Larger spacings are preferable to minimize mutual coupling of elements in the receive array and to decrease the relative uncertainty in measured phase difference. We present a solution that uses all unique antenna pairs to determine probabilities for all possible azimuth and zenith values. Prior to analysis, the expected phase differences for all AOAs are calculated for each antenna pair. For a received signal, histograms of possible AoAs for each antenna pair phase difference are extracted and added to produce a two dimensional probability density array that will maximize at the true value of the AoA. A benefit of this method is that all possible antenna pairs are utilized, rather than the restriction to specific pairs along baselines used by some interferometer algorithms. Numerical simulations indicate that performance of the suggested algorithm exceeds that of existing methods, with the benefit of additional flexibility in antenna placement. Meteor radar data has been used to test this method against existing methods, with excellent agreement between the two approaches. This method of AoA determination will allow the construction of low-cost interferometric direction finding arrays with different layouts, including construction of difficult terrain and three-dimensional antenna arrangements.

We report an analysis of the neutral mesosphere density response to geomagnetic activity from January 2016 to February 2017 over Antarctica. Neutral mesospheric densities from 85-95 km are derived using data from the Davis meteor radar (68.5°S, 77.9°E) and the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on the Aura satellite. Spectral and Morlet wavelet analyses indicate that a prominent oscillation with a periodicity of 13.5-day is observed in the mesospheric density during the declining phase of solar cycle 24 and is associated with variations in solar wind high-speed streams and recurrent geomagnetic activity. The periodic oscillation in density shows a strong anti-correlation with periodic changes in the auroral electrojet (AE) index. These results indicate that a significant decrease in neutral mesospheric density as the geomagnetic activity enhances.

We present a first analysis of 9 and 6.75-day periodic oscillations observed in the neutral mesospheric density in 2005 and 2006. Mesospheric densities near 90 km are derived using data from the Davis meteor radar (68.5°S, 77.9°E; magnetic latitude, 74.6°S), Antarctica. Spectral analysis indicates that the pronounced periodicities of 9 and 6.75 days observed in the mesosphere densities are associated with variations in solar wind high-speed streams and recurrent geomagnetic activity. Neutral mesospheric winds and temperatures, simultaneously measured by the Davis meteor radar, also exhibit 9- and 6.75-day periodicities. A Morlet wavelet analysis shows that the time evolution of the 9- and 6.75-day oscillations in the neutral mesosphere densities and winds are similar to those in the solar wind and in planetary magnetic activity index, Kp in 2005 and 2006. These results demonstrate a direct coupling between Sun's Corona (upper atmosphere) and the Earth's mesosphere.

Based on the one-month (October, 2014) wind observations of 11 radars distributed in both hemispheres along the 120°E meridian during a radar campaign, this article reports on improvements of the tidal mapping technique proposed before (Yu et al., 2013) by extending the latitude coverage to the global scale (from pole to pole). We first present the tidal components decomposed from the wind observations at different stations. It is revealed that the tidal components are stronger at stations in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. Then, Hough mode decomposition is performed to extract the contributions of different tidal modes for each decomposed tidal component. The expected dominant mode, (1, 1) mode, is the strongest. The trapped (1, −2) mode also contributes a lot to the diurnal component. Yet for the semidiurnal component, (2, 4) mode along with (2, 5) mode make considerable contributions. In contrast, (3, 5) mode has the strongest amplitude for the terdiurnal component. At last, the tidal mapping technique proposed before is improved to get the pole-to-pole structure of each tidal component, based on the extracted tidal modes. The mapped tidal components successfully construct the general latitudinal and altitudinal distributions, compared with the Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Doppler Interferometer (TIDI) observations and Global Scale Wave Model (GSWM-09) results. Comparison of the predicted and observed tidal wind (for example, at Wuhan Station) indicates the capability of the mapping technique for reproducing the local time and altitude variations of the original observations.

This paper assesses the ability of a recently-installed 55 MHz multistatic meteor radar to measure gravity wave-driven momentum fluxes around the mesopause, and applies it in a case study of measuring gravity wave forcing on the diurnal tide during a period following the autumnal equinox of 2018. The radar considered is in the vicinity of Adelaide, South Australia (34.9° S, 138.6° E) and consists of a monostatic radar and bistatic receiver separated by approximately 55 km. The assessment shows that the inclusion of the bistatic receiver reduces the relative uncertainty of the momentum flux estimate from about 75 % to 65 % (for a flux magnitude of ~ 20 m2 s−2, one day's worth of integration, and for a gravity wave field synthesized from a realistic spectral model). This increase in precision appears to be entirely attributable to the increased number of meteor detections associated with the combined monostatic and bistatic receivers, rather than changes in the meteors' spatial distribution. The case study reveals large modulations in the diurnal tidal amplitudes, with a maximum tidal amplitude of ~ 50 ms−1 and an associated maximum zonal wind velocity of around 140 ms−1. While the observed gravity wave forcing exhibits a complex relationship with the tidal winds during this period, the components of the forcing are seen to be approximately out of phase with the tidal winds above 88 km. No clear phase relationship has been observed below 88 km.

The existing distribution of meteor radars located from high- to low-latitude regions provides a favourable temporal and spatial coverage for investigating the climatology of the global mesopause density. In this study, we report the climatology of the mesopause density estimated using multiyear observations from nine meteor radars, namely, the Davis Station (68.6° S, 77.9° E), Svalbard (78.3° N, 16° E) and Tromsø (69.6° N, 19.2° E) meteor radars located at high latitudes, the Mohe (53.5° N, 122.3° E), Beijing (40.3° N, 116.2° E), Mengcheng (33.4° N, 116.6° E) and Wuhan (30.5° N, 114.6° E) meteor radars located in the mid-latitudes, and the Kunming (25.6° N, 103.8° E) and Darwin (12.3° S, 130.8° E) meteor radars located at low latitudes. The daily mean density was estimated using ambipolar diffusion coefficients derived from the meteor radars and temperatures from the Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) on board the Aura satellite. The seasonal variations in the Davis Station meteor radar densities in the southern polar mesopause are mainly dominated by an annual oscillation (AO). The mesopause densities observed by the Svalbard and Tromsø meteor radars at high latitudes and the Mohe and Beijing meteor radars at high mid-latitudes in the Northern Hemisphere show mainly an AO and a relatively weak semiannual oscillation (SAO). The mesopause densities observed by the Mengcheng and Wuhan meteor radars at lower mid-latitudes and the Kunming and Darwin meteor radars at low latitudes show mainly an AO. The SAO is evident in the Northern Hemisphere, especially at high latitudes, and its largest amplitude, which is detected at the Tromsø meteor radar, is comparable to the AO amplitudes. These observations indicate that the mesopause densities over the southern and northern high latitudes exhibit a clear seasonal asymmetry. The maxima of the yearly variations in the mesopause densities display a clear temporal variation across the spring equinox as the latitude decreases; these latitudinal variation characteristics may be related to latitudinal changes influenced by gravity wave forcing. In addition to an AO, the mesopause densities over low latitudes also clearly show a variation with a periodicity of 30–60 days related to the Madden-Julian oscillation in the subtropical troposphere.

The Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) was designed to quantify gravity wave (GW) dynamics and effects from orographic and other sources to regions of dissipation at high altitudes. The core DEEPWAVE field phase took place from May through July 2014 using a comprehensive suite of airborne and ground-based instruments providing measurements from Earth’s surface to ∼100 km. Austral winter was chosen to observe deep GW propagation to high altitudes. DEEPWAVE was based on South Island, New Zealand, to provide access to the New Zealand and Tasmanian “hotspots” of GW activity and additional GW sources over the Southern Ocean and Tasman Sea. To observe GWs up to ∼100 km, DEEPWAVE utilized three new instruments built specifically for the National Science Foundation (NSF)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) Gulfstream V (GV): a Rayleigh lidar, a sodium resonance lidar, and an advanced mesosphere temperature mapper. These measurements were supplemented by in situ probes, dropsondes, and a microwave temperature profiler on the GV and by in situ probes and a Doppler lidar aboard the German DLR Falcon. Extensive ground-based instrumentation and radiosondes were deployed on South Island, Tasmania, and Southern Ocean islands. Deep orographic GWs were a primary target but multiple flights also observed deep GWs arising from deep convection, jet streams, and frontal systems. Highlights include the following: 1) strong orographic GW forcing accompanying strong cross-mountain flows, 2) strong high-altitude responses even when orographic forcing was weak, 3) large-scale GWs at high altitudes arising from jet stream sources, and 4) significant flight-level energy fluxes and often very large momentum fluxes at high altitudes.

The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology completed the installation of a network of 9 new wind profiling radars across mainland Australia in 2017, which complement an existing network of 5 profilers and 5 research systems. This results in a network of 14 operational, and 19 total, profilers across Australia and Davis Station in Antarctica. Four of the new profilers are higher power stratospheric tropospheric systems, designed to measure winds from near ground level to the tropopause, and maintain the upper air network in Australia where sonde launches are no longer available. Wind measurements in the near field of the radar are demonstrated to be both possible and accurate by comparison with co-located radiosondes. Quality control procedures producing winds of sufficient accuracy for presentation to forecasters and ingestion into global numerical weather prediction models are described. The Australian network data are available on the global telecommunications system and are currently being ingested into all major models. First results from impact studies on forecast error reduction in the Australian Community Climate and Earth Systems Simulator show remote stations have the greatest impact.

Mountain wave (MW) propagation and dynamics extending into the upper mesosphere accompanying weak forcing are examined using in situ and remote‐sensing measurements aboard the National Science Foundation/National Center for Atmospheric Research Gulfstream V (GV) research aircraft and the German Aerospace Center Falcon. The measurements were obtained during Falcon flights FF9 and FF10 and GV Research Flight RF22 of the Deep Propagating Gravity Wave Experiment (DEEPWAVE) performed over Mount Cook, New Zealand, on 12 and 13 July 2014. In situ measurements revealed both trapped lee waves having zonal wavelengths of λₓ ~ 12 km and less, and larger‐scale, vertically propagating MWs primarily at λₓ ~ 20–60 km and ~100–300 km extending from west to ~400 km east of Mount Cook. GV Rayleigh lidar measurements from 25‐ to 60‐km altitudes showed that the weak forcing and zonal winds that increased from ~12 m/s at 12 km to ~40 and 130 m/s at 30 and 55 km, respectively, enabled largely linear MW propagation and strong amplitude growth with altitude into the mesosphere. GV Na lidar and airglow imager measurements revealed an extensive MW response from ~70 to 87 km with large amplitudes and vertical displacements at λₓ ~ 40–300 km but with both decreasing with altitude approaching a critical level near 90 km. These MWs exhibited large‐scale MW breaking and among the largest sustained momentum fluxes observed in the mesosphere. UK Met Office Unified Model simulations of the RF22 MW event captured many aspects of the observed MW field and revealed that despite the dominant large‐scale MW responses in the stratosphere, the major momentum fluxes accompanied smaller‐scale waves.

We compare hourly averaged neutral winds derived from two meteor radars operating at 33.2 and 55 MHz to estimate the errors in these measurements. We then compare the meteor radar winds with those from a medium-frequency partial reflection radar operating at 1.94 MHz. These three radars are located at Davis Station, Antarctica. We then consider a middle-latitude 55 MHz meteor radar wind comparison with a 1.98 MHz medium-frequency partial reflection radar to determine how representative the Davis results are. At both sites, the medium-frequency radar winds are clearly underestimated, and the underestimation increases from 80 km to the maximum height of 98 km. Correction factors are suggested for these results.

A new technique for determining the height of a constant density surface at altitudes of 78–85 km is presented. The first results are derived from a decade of observations by a meteor radar located at Davis Station in Antarctica and are compared with observations from the Microwave Limb Sounder instrument aboard the Aura satellite. The density of the neutral atmosphere in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere region around 70–110 km is an essential parameter for interpreting airglow-derived atmospheric temperatures, planning atmospheric entry maneuvers of returning spacecraft, and understanding the response of climate to different stimuli. This region is not well characterized, however, due to inaccessibility combined with a lack of consistent strong atmospheric radar scattering mechanisms. Recent advances in the analysis of detection records from high-performance meteor radars provide new opportunities to obtain atmospheric density estimates at high time resolutions in the MLT region using the durations and heights of faint radar echoes from meteor trails. Previous studies have indicated that the expected increase in underdense meteor radar echo decay times with decreasing altitude is reversed in the lower part of the meteor ablation region due to the neutralization of meteor plasma. The height at which the gradient of meteor echo decay times reverses is found to occur at a fixed atmospheric density. Thus, the gradient reversal height of meteor radar diffusion coefficient profiles can be used to infer the height of a constant density level, enabling the observation of mesospheric density variations using meteor radar.

The Camelopardalids meteor shower was predicted to occur for the first time on 24 May 2014, based on optical observations of the comet 209P/LINEAR. Using a 38.9 MHz meteor radar located at Mohe, China, we were able to detect approximately 590 shower meteors originating from an average pre-infall radiant of R.A. = 129.1° ± 9.8°, declination = 79.4° ± 1.6° (J2000) with a geocentric velocity of 16.0 ± 1.6 km s −1 . Measurements of the shower duration, direction, velocity, and individual meteor detection heights facilitated a detailed analysis of the parent debris stream. Orbital parameters were calculated including a semi-major axis of 2.86 AU, eccentricity of 0.659, and inclination of 21.1°. Combining orbital parameters with the shower activity duration FWHM of 5.09 h, it was found that the stream has a FWHM of at least 211,000 km at 1 AU, as measured perpendicular to the direction of orbital motion. A comparison of shower meteor detection heights and diffusion coefficient estimates with the sporadic background is consistent the prediction of Ye and Wiegert (Ye, Q., Wiegert, P. [2014]. Mon. Not. R. Astron. Soc. 437, 3283–3287) that Camelopardalid meteoroids are biased towards larger sizes or that Cameloppardalid meteoroids are less fragile than sporadic background meteoroids.

The Southern Hemisphere summer 2 day wave (TDW) is the most dramatic large-scale event of the upper mesosphere. The winds accelerate over ~1 week, may attain > 70 m/s, and are often accompanied by a near disappearance of the diurnal tide and stabilization of the period close to 48 h. We denote this as the phase-locked 2 day wave (PL/TDW). We have examined airglow and meteor radar (MR) wind data from the Andes Lidar Observatory (Cerro Pachon, Chile:30°S, 289.3°E), MR data from Darwin (12.5°S, 131°E) and airglow and medium frequency radar data from the University of Adelaide (34.7°S, 138.6°E) for the behavior of the TDW during the austral summers of 2010, 2012, and 2013. The Cerro Pachon and Adelaide sites are located at similar latitudes separated in longitude by about 120°. We find a remarkable coincidence between the TDW oscillations at Chile and Adelaide for the period January–February 2010. The oscillations are nearly in phase in terms of local time and the minima and maxima repeat at nearly the same local time from cycle to cycle consistent with a phase-locked wave number 3 TDW. Data for this and other years (including Darwin) show that the amplitude of the diurnal tide decreases when the TDW is largest and that this occurs when the period is close to 48 h. These observations support the proposal that the PL/TDW is a subharmonic parametric instability wherein the diurnal tide transfers energy to a TDW that is resonant at nearly 48 h.

An Australian network of oblique angle-of-arrival (AoA) ionosondes was installed as part of the ELOISE experimental campaign in September 2015, aimed at an improved understanding of the spatial and temporal structure of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) at mid-latitudes. In this paper, the array design and signal processing for the AoA sounder is described, along with a sample of results showing typical disturbance signatures. Realistic parameterized models of electron density perturbations, along with geometric ray tracing, were used to synthesize the effects of medium to large scale TIDs on the sounder observables and aid in classifying the measurements.

15th MST Radar WorkshopSession M7: Radar detection of meteorsMay 30 (Tue), Poster Session

15th MST Radar WorkshopSession M7: Radar detection of meteorsMay 30 (Tue), National Institute for Japanese Language

15th MST Radar WorkshopSession M1: Radar hardware, signal processing, quality control for coherent and incoherent radarsMay 29 (Mon), NIPR Auditorium

Whether radar meteor echoes occur at high altitudes (above ~130 km) in the Earth's atmosphere is a long-standing question within the meteor radar community. Using observations from the Sanya VHF coherent radar interferometer during 11 July to 10 August 2013, we have found a new class of range-spread high-altitude meteor trail echoes (HAMEs), some of which appeared at ~170 km altitude lasting more than 10 s. A statistical analysis on the local time dependence of the identified HAME events shows a maximum around 00–04 LT. The results imply that there could be much more meteor mass input due to meteoroid sputtering at high altitudes in the Earth's atmosphere than previously thought.

Meteor trails are composed of a number of different types of ions that are produced during the meteoroid ablation process. The diffusion of meteoric plasma is usually presented in terms of the diffusion of a single ionic species, but this ignores the possibility of non-linear diffusion due to complex meteor trail composition. This study uses numerical simulations to investigate what effect multi-ion diffusion has on the time-decay of meteor radar echoes, and whether multi-ion diffusion could be responsible for the anomalous diffusion coefficient estimates produced by radars operating at different frequencies. It is found that the diffusion of different species of ions in meteor trails does not produce the same discrepancies seen in estimates of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient made using meteor radar.

The decay times of VHF radar echoes from underdense meteor trails are reduced in the lower portions of the meteor region. This is a result of plasma neutralization initiated by the attachment of positive trail ions to neutral atmospheric molecules. Decreased echo decay times cause meteor radars to produce erroneously high estimates of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient at heights below 90 km, which affects temperature estimation techniques. Comparisons between colocated radars and satellite observations show that meteor radar estimates of diffusion coefficients are not consistent with estimates from the Aura Microwave Limb Sounder satellite instrument and that colocated radars operating at different frequencies estimate different values of the ambipolar diffusion coefficient for simultaneous detections of the same meteors. Loss of free electrons from meteor trails due to attachment to aerosols and chemical processes were numerically simulated and compared with observations to determine the specific mechanism responsible for low-altitude meteor trail plasma neutralization. It is shown that three-body attachment of positive metal ions significantly reduces meteor radar echo decay times at low altitudes compared to the case of diffusion only that atmospheric ozone plays little part in the evolution of low-altitude underdense meteor trails and that the effect of three-body attachment begins to exceed diffusion in echo decay times at a constant density surface.

We analyze 15 years of atomic oxygen (OI) 558 nm and hydroxyl (OH) (8-3) 730 nm nightglow emission intensities from heights near 96 and 87 km, respectively, measured using filter photometers at the Buckland Park Field Station (34.6°S, 138.6°E) near Adelaide, Australia. The intensity of both emissions exhibits clear seasonal and interannual periodicities, with annual, semiannual, and quasi-biennial oscillations, as well as a solar cycle influence. In addition, there is a terannual and 4.1 year component in the OI airglow intensity and both a quasi-biennial and quasi-triennial oscillation in the OH intensity. The results are in very good agreement with simultaneous collocated measurements made with an imager, and with global satellite climatologies of OI and OH intensities reported for the Wind Imaging Interferometer instrument. The mean value of the OI annual oscillation intensity is the same as that of the semiannual oscillation at this location to within the experimental uncertainty. The OI annual oscillation maximizes in summer, and the semiannual oscillation maximizes in autumn and spring, with the largest maximum in autumn. The terannual component in the OI nightglow maximizes in early summer, autumn, and spring. The quasi-biennial oscillation in the OI nightglow takes its first maximum value in autumn 1996, and the 4.1 year period in this emission first maximizes in summer 1998. The OH annual and semiannual oscillation intensities also agree to within the experimental uncertainties and are observed to peak in early winter. The quasi-biennial and quasi-triennial oscillations in this emission take their first maximum value in summer 1996.

[1] The Tropical Warm Pool International Cloud Experiment campaign centered on Darwin (12°S, 131°E) in northern Australia in January–February 2006 provided an opportunity to study gravity wave generation by convection and the associated wave propagation and momentum transport. In this study, we discuss wave generation by a single mesoscale convective system (MCS) that occurred on 23 January. The project used a variety of radars to study the spatial and temporal variability of rainfall and the associated latent heat release during the storm. A high-resolution numerical model utilized the latent heat release derived from radar rainfall measurements to compute the spatial and geographic variation of gravity wave generation and propagation into the lower stratosphere. Gravity wave ray-tracing techniques were then used to estimate the wave energy flux penetrating to heights near 90 km, where the results were compared with direct measurements made with a meteor wind radar. This comparison is used to calibrate the momentum fluxes derived from the model and the ray-tracing results using an iterative technique. The momentum was deposited in a relatively compact region. Body forces computed from the flux divergences had their maximum values at heights near 98 km with a peak values of about 400 m s−1h−1. The effects of secondary gravity wave generation are discussed, as is the overall contribution of gravity waves generated by MCSs to the momentum budget of the tropical middle atmosphere.