昆明MF雷达及初步探测结果

MF雷达是中层大气风场及低电离层电子密度观测的重要手段. 简要介绍了新建昆明MF雷达设备的工作原理、结构及工作模式, 并对观测结果进行初步分析. 对2009年1月观测数据的分析表明, 该月纬向风场最大可达80 m/s, 经向风场则较小, 一般不超过40 m/s, 且二者均呈现一定波动性. 相应的LS谱及谐波拟合分析表明,周日潮汐是80~100 km高度大气风场的主要扰动成分, 其振幅随高度改变, 相位向下传播, 且周日潮汐经向分量相位超前于纬向分量相位. 此外, 分析了MF雷达白天的电子密度观测结果, 并与IRI2000进行比较, 发现两者在变化趋势上有非常好的一致性, 但雷达观测结果小于IRI2000给出的参考值.      

中国地区20──80km高空风的一些特征

利用Nimbus-7卫星1979-1981年的平流层和中间层大气温度探测数据(SAMS)和热成风原理,计算了高空风场,得到中国上空20──80km高度范围风场的一些特征。结果表明,用地转一热成风公式从卫星温度探测数据计算的高空风与当日中国气象火箭探测的高空风基本一致,说明利用卫星温度数据是获得中国20-80k高空风气候特征的一种有效的方法;从计算出的风场看,中国上空20──80km的纬向风与COSPAR国际参考大气CIRA-1986的纬圈平均纬向风有显着差别,文中还给出了经向风的分布和风场的变化情况。      

Aura/MLS与TIMED/SABER观测全球重力波特性

大气重力波是临近空间环境主要大气波动之一,对全球环流具有重要影响。卫星上搭载的临边探测器能够探测临近空间大气温度,可用于临近空间大气重力波研究。利用2012－2014年Aura的微波临边探测器（MLS）和TIMED的红外临边探测器（SABER）的探测数据,对20~50 km高度的大气重力波扰动分布特征开展了分析研究,两种观测重力波活动基本一致,重力波随季节、纬度及高度的变化显著。冬季半球高纬度重力波扰动较强,赤道和夏季半球近赤道地区上空也存在明显重力波活动区域,夏季半球高纬度重力波扰动最弱。重力波扰动强度随高度增加。TIMED/SABER重力波扰动强度数值比 Aura/MLS略强。      

中纬度冬季低热层潮汐非线性相互作用的MF雷达观测

采用武汉(30°N,114°E)MF雷达在2001年冬季的风场观测数据研究中纬度低热层大气潮汐之间的二阶非线性相互作用.经向风场的Lomb-Scargle归一化振幅谱表明,周日、半日和8 h潮汐是中纬冬季中层顶区域占优势的大气扰动;此外6 h潮汐也清晰可见.双相干谱分析揭示大多数显著的双相干谱峰代表潮汐谐振分量之间的相位互相关或单个潮汐分量的自相关.对随时间变化的潮汐垂直波长的比较发现,实际观测的8h潮汐垂直波长与假定的由观测的24 h潮汐和12 h潮汐非线性相互作用产生的8 h潮汐的理论垂直波长具有明显的一致性.在94.0～98.0km高度范围,周日、半日和8h潮汐之间不仅存在明显的相位相关和垂直波数相关,且它们的振幅随时间变化也显示出振荡幅值相近、振荡相位同步或反相的相关性,表明它们之间已经发生了二阶非线性相互作用.但是在94.0 km以下,三个潮汐分量之间的各种相关性随高度的下降变得越来越弱,因此潮汐二阶相互作用更可能是一种局地和暂态的现象.      

武汉上空（30°N，l14°E）潮汐及其相互作用的MF雷达观测

利用武汉(30°N,114°E)MF雷达2000年2月11日至25日,以及2月28日至3月13日的观测数据,研究中层顶(80-98 km)区域冬季潮汐振荡及其共振相互作用.水平风场扰动的动态谱显示出在所有的观测高度上都持续存在很强的24 h潮汐波动;偶尔也会出现较强的12 h和弱的8 h潮汐振荡,这说明在中纬地区的冬季, 24 h潮汐是中层顶区域主要的潮汐成分.潮汐振幅及其相关动能随时间的变化表明,在24 h,12 h和8 h潮汐之间可能存在强的共振相互作用.另外,24h潮汐的相位随高度的增加呈现出明显的增加趋势,表明观测到的24h潮汐是向上传播的.由相位剖面计算出24h潮汐纬向和经向风场的垂直波长分别为45km和47km,其向下的相位传播速度分别为1.88km/h和1.97km/h.     

武汉上空(30°N,114°E)潮汐及其相互作用的MF雷达观测

利用武汉(30°N,114°E)MF雷达2000年2月11日至25日,以及2月28日至3月13日的观测数据,研究中层顶(80-98km)区域冬季潮汐振荡及其共振相互作用.水平风场扰动的动态谱显示出在所有的观测高度上都持续存在很强的24 h潮汐波动;偶尔也会出现较强的12 h和弱的8 h潮汐振荡,这说明在中纬地区的冬季,24 h潮汐是中层顶区域主要的潮汐成分.潮汐振幅及其相关动能随时间的变化表明,在24h,12h和8h潮汐之间可能存在强的共振相互作用.另外,24 h潮汐的相位随高度的增加呈现出明显的增加趋势,表明观测到的24h潮汐是向上传播的.由相位剖面计算出24h潮汐纬向和经向风场的垂直波长分别为45km和47km,其向下的相位传播速度分别为1.88km/h和1.97km/h.     

武汉中层、低热层大气角谱中频雷达观测

武汉中频雷达是利用中层、低热层中电子密度不均匀体的散射来测量大气的水平风场和电子密度剖面。雷达在计算风场的过程中可得到一些该层大气中电子密度不均匀体的寿命和空间尺度等参量值。结合这些参量和大气风场值可计算得到大气的角谱。其计算方法包括全相关分析技术的谱宽法和空间相关法。前者计算的值被认为是大气角谱的上限值。应用这两种方法,利用2001年2月9日武汉中频雷达的观测数据,对武昌上空中层、低热层大气的角谱进行了计算。结果得到大气角谱随高度增加略微增加,如在68km为6°,90km达最大为11°,其平均值为9.2°。利用2001年2月4—10日86km高度上的数据,得到一个7天平均的日变化曲线,发现大气角谱值在本地夜晚最小。     

TIMED/SABER与AURA/MLS临近空间探测温度数据比较

利用AURA/MLS数据（V4.2）和TIMED/SABER数据（V2.0）对20~92km高度的大气温度进行比较分析,计算AURA/MLS数据与TIMED/SABER数据的温度绝对偏差,并分析平均温度偏差在不同季节中随经度、纬度和高度的变化特征.结果表明:20~80km高度的平均温度偏差在±6K以内,相对偏差在3%以内;80~90km高度平均温度偏差减小至-10K以下,相对偏差在9%以内.中低纬度地区平均温度偏差廓线的变化趋势一致,从20km高度的-3K左右的负偏差逐渐增加,在45~50km高度的平流层顶处有较明显的3K左右的正偏差峰值.平均温度偏差随纬度变化明显,随经度变化很小.研究结果可为卫星数据的应用提供参考依据.      

武汉上空中层顶区域潮汐的MF雷达观测

利用武汉中频雷达观测数据进行分析,研究2至3月份武汉上空中层顶潮汐结构及其随高度和时间变化的特性.用Lomb-Scargle周期图方法计算的水平风场动态功率谱表明,武汉上空存在持续的周日潮汐,是中层顶区域风场结构的主要成分.周日潮的平均振幅随高度的增加呈先增后减的趋势.大多数情况下,潮汐谱峰对应的频率与定义值有一定的偏移.周日潮水平扰动速度矢量随时问和高度变化的轨迹表明,经向分量的相位比纬向分量的相位超前,潮汐能量向上传播,对应于向下的相位传播速度.计算得出的经向分量和纬向分量的垂直相速度分别为1.10和1.15 km/h.      

北纬30°N中间层和低热层大气平均风中频雷达观测

利用武汉(30.5°N,114.4°W)中频雷达在2001年1月1日至3月18日、2002年2月5日至3月18日、2002年10月18日至12月31日期间,日本Yamagawa(31.2°N,130.6°W)中频雷达在1997年1月1日至10月17日期间的数据,分析北纬30°N地区上空60-98km高度的中间层、低热层大气平均风的变化规律,结果表明平均纬向风和经向风都具有明显的季节变化.平均纬向风在冬季基本为西风,随高度增加,西风减弱,甚至在上部会出现微弱的东风;夏季中间层表现为强烈的东风,低热层则为西风,风向转换高度在80km附近;春季和秋季为转换季节,在春季出现舌状东风结构.80km附近的平均经向风场在冬季以南风为主,在夏季则以北风为主.不同年份的平均风场存在年际变化性,但其气候变化特点非常相似.中频雷达观测结果与HWM93模式结果的气候变化特点符合很好,与其他纬度的平均纬向风气候变化特点基本类似.     

电离层－热层耦合系统中由中性风引起的F区运动

利用一种时变电离层剖面的数值模型,研究电离层最大电子浓度所在高度对热层子午风变化的响应。对武昌(30.5°N,114.4°E)和Wakkanai(45.4°N,141.7°E)讨论三种不同类型的风场对峰高的控制作用。结果表明:(1)峰高对中性风的响应过程,存在南北方向不对称性、日夜不对称性和纬度差异。在真实背景大气下,热层与电离层通过风场强烈耦合。(2)由伺服理论推算的风场基本上是合理可靠的。(3)水平风模式HWM-90在所关心的地区,大致能反映实际子午风状况,但合理程度不及伺服理论的风场。      

Mathematical modeling of plasma drifts over equatorial low latitude regions

This paper presents a mathematical model to simulate ionospheric plasma drifts at equatorial low latitude regions by coupling of E- and F-regions. The governing non-linear differential equations (of elliptic and parabolic nature) are solved numerically through finite-difference schemes and obtained neutral winds and electric fields. The temperature and electron density profiles are generated utilizing MSIS-86 atmospheric model. The continuity equation is employed to obtain night-time E-region density profile using measured ionograms at Trivandrum (India). The computed vertical and zonal plasma drifts are comparable with measured Jacamarca plasma drifts with little variations during noon and evening times. The plasma drifts at Trivandrum (8.5° N, 76.5° E, dip 0.5° N) are compared with those of Jicamarca (12° S, 76.9° W, dip 2° N). Neutral wind simulations of present model agree well with those of horizontal wind model (HWM-93). The post-sunset enhancement and its reversal are also discussed.     

Prompt effects of solar wind variations on the inner magnetosphere and midlatitude ionosphere

It is well known that the solar wind can significantly affect high-latitude ionospheric dynamics. However, the effects of the solar wind on the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere are much less studied. In this paper, we report observations that large perturbations in the middle- and low-latitude ionosphere are well correlated with solar wind variations. In one event, a significant (20–30%) decrease of the midlatitude ionospheric electron density over a large latitudinal range was related to a sudden drop in the solar wind pressure and a northward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field, and the density decrease became larger at lower latitudes. In another event, periodic perturbations in the dayside equatorial ionospheric E × B drift and electrojet were closely associated with variations in the interplanetary electric field. Since the solar wind is always changing with time, it can be a very important and common source of ionospheric perturbations at middle- and low-latitudes. The relationship between solar wind variations and significant ionospheric perturbations has important applications in space weather.     

Sharp boundaries of solar wind plasma structures and their relationship to solar wind turbulence

Sharp (<10 min) and large (>20%) solar wind ion flux changes are common phenomena in turbulent solar wind plasma. These changes are the boundaries of small- and middle-scale solar wind plasma structures which can have a significant influence on Earth’s magnetosphere. These solar wind ion flux changes are typically accompanied by only a small change in the bulk solar wind velocity, hence, the flux changes are driven mainly by plasma density variations. We show that these events occur more frequently in high-density solar wind. A characteristic of solar wind turbulence, intermittency, is determined for time periods with and without these flux changes. The probability distribution functions (PDF) of solar wind ion flux variations for different time scales are calculated for each of these periods and compared. For large time scales, the PDFs are Gaussian for both data sets. For small time scales, the PDFs from both data set are more flat than Gaussian, but the degree of flatness is much larger for the data near the sharp flux change boundaries.     

Mesospheric doppler wind measurements from Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS)

This paper describes a microwave limb technique for measuring Doppler wind in the Earth’s mesosphere. The research algorithm has been applied to Aura Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) 118.75 GHz measurements where the O₂ Zeeman lines are resolved by a digital autocorrelation spectrometer. A precision of ∼17 m/s for the line-of-sight (LOS) wind is achieved at 80–92 km, which corresponds to radiometric noise during 1/6 s integration time. The LOS winds from Aura MLS are mostly in the meridional direction at low- and mid-latitudes with vertical resolution of ∼8 km. This microwave Doppler technique has potential to obtain useful winds down to ∼40 km of the Earth’s atmosphere if measurements from other MLS frequencies (near H₂O, O₃, and CO lines) are used. Initial analyses show that the MLS winds from the 118.75 GHz measurements agree well with the TIDI (Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics Doppler Interferometer) winds for the perturbations induced by a strong quasi 2-day wave (QTDW) in January 2005. Time series of MLS winds reveal many interesting climatological and planetary wave features, including the diurnal, semidiurnal tides, and the QTDW. Interactions between the tides and the QTDW are clearly evident, indicating possible large tidal structural changes after the QTDW events dissipate.     

Interplanetary medium – A dusty plasma

The average mass of dust per volume in space equals that of the solar wind so that the interplanetary medium should provide an obvious region to study dust plasma interactions. While dust collective behavior is typically not observed in the interplanetary medium, the dust component rather consists of isolated grains screened by and interacting with the plasma. Space measurements have revealed several phenomena possibly resulting from dust plasma interactions, but most of the dust plasma interactions are at present not quantified. Examples are the production of neutrals and pick-up ions from the dust, dust impact generated field variations at spacecraft and magnetic field variations possibly caused by solar wind interacting with dust trails. Since dust particles carry a surface charge, they are exposed to the Lorentz force in the interplanetary magnetic field and for grains of sub-micrometer sizes acceleration can be substantial.     

临近空间风切变特性及其对飞行器的影响

基于MERRA再分析资料的风场数据,根据数理统计理论,对酒泉（39.1°N,98.5°E）上空临近空间的20~78 km的大气风场进行了风切变特征分析,并分析了临近空间风切变对飞行器的影响。研究表明,临近空间最多风向在1月和10月为西风,7月为东风,4月在50 km以下为西风,以上为东风;99%概率最大风速在1月最大;最大风引起的风切变存在一定的高度范围。根据最大风和最小风给出了综合矢量风。此外发现临近空间风切变对飞行器产生的风攻角显著,对马赫数为3、5和8的飞行器产生风攻角在69 km最大,分别为8.5°、5.1°和3.2°。      

Simultaneous observation of dual-site airglow imagers and a sodium temperature-wind lidar,and effect of atmospheric stability on the airglow structure

The heights of horizontal structures in the OH airglow images were observed with two all-sky imagers at Platteville (40.2N, 104.7W) and Yucca Ridge Field Station (40.7N, 104.9W) in Colorado. The sodium temperature-wind lidar of CSU at Fort Collins (40.6N, 105.1W) observed temperature and wind velocities around 80–105-km altitude, providing time-height variations of atmospheric stability. Simultaneous observations with the imagers and the lidar were successful on two nights: November 18 and 19, 2003. The estimated height from OH airglow images were lower (80–86 km) than those observed in Japan, with significant time variation. Comparison with the temperature and wind observed by the lidar showed that the estimated height is likely to coincide with the height of small N² (close to 0) values. Ripples (<10-km horizontal scale) were simultaneously observed in the image.     

Periodic Variations of Drag Coefficient for the ANDE Spherical Satellites During its Lifetime

A drag coefficient (C_D) inversion method is introduced to study the variations of the drag coefficient for orbital satellites with spherical geometry. Drag coefficients of the four micro satellites in the Atmospheric Neutral Density Experiment (ANDE) are compiled out with this new method. The Lomb-Scargle Periodgram (LSP) analysis of the four ANDE satellites' C_D series has shown that there are obvious 5, 7, 9, and 27 days' period in those data. Interesting results are found through comparing the LSP analysis with series of the daily solar radio flux at 10.7 cm (F_10.7 index), the Ap index, and the daily averaged solar wind speed at 1AU. All series in the same time interval have an obvious period of about 27 days, which has already been explained as the association with the 27 days' solar rotation. The oscillating periods less than 27 days are found in series of C_D, Ap and solar wind speed at 1AU, e.g., the 5, 7, 9 days period. However, these short periods disappeared in the time series of F_10.7 index. The same periodicities of 5, 7, 9 days in Ap and solar wind are presented at the same time interval during the declining phase of solar cycle 23. While in the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, these short oscillations are not so obvious as that in the declining phase of solar cycle 23. These results provide definite evidence that the C_D variations with period of 5, 7 and 9 days are produced by a combination of space weather effects caused by the solar wind and geomagnetic activity.