Observations of a quasi-90-day oscillation in the MLT winds and tides over an equatorial station using meteor radar winds

An evident signature of a least studied quasi-90-day oscillation is found in the winds and tides in the MLT from an equatorial station, São João do Cariri (7.4°S, 36.5°W). The oscillation is found to appear mainly in certain intervals with small but appreciable seasonal (fourth harmonic of annual oscillation) contribution. The maximum amplitude of the oscillation is found to be around 10 m/s in the zonal wind. The enhancement peak of the oscillation exhibits downward movement indicating a plausible role of upward moving waves/tides in carrying its imprint from below to the MLT. Similar oscillation feature in the tropospheric zonal wind and ozone may imply its lower atmospheric origin as a component of the intraseasonal oscillation (ISO) that moves upward by modulating the tides. Subsequently, the propagating tides (mainly semidiurnal) are enhanced by the ozone in the stratosphere through absorption of solar UV radiation and finally manifest the oscillation in the MLT. Consistency of the present findings with the past investigations are observed in some aspects of the oscillation, whereas existing mismatches in others are believed to be due to geophysical variability depending on space and time among various locations on the globe.     

Plasma and electromagnetic wave simulations of meteors

Every day billions of meteoroids impact and disintegrate in the Earth’s atmosphere. Current estimates for this global meteor flux vary from 2000 to 200,000 tons per year, and estimates for the average velocity range between 10 km/s and 70 km/s. The basic properties of this global meteor flux, such as the average mass, velocity, and chemical composition remain poorly constrained. We believe much of the mystery surrounding the basic parameters of the interplanetary meteor flux exists for the following reason, the unknown sampling characteristics of different radar meteor observation techniques, which are used to derive or constrain most models. We believe this arises due to poorly understood radio scattering characteristics of the meteor plasma, especially in light of recent work showing that plasma turbulence and instability greatly influences meteor trail properties at every stage of evolution. We present our results on meteor plasmas simulations of head echoes using particle in cell (PIC) ions, which show that electric fields strongly influence early stage meteor plasma evolution, by accelerating ions away from the meteoroid body. We also present the results of finite difference time domain electromagnetic simulations (FDTD), which can calculate the radar cross section of the simulated meteor plasmas. These simulations have shown that the radar cross section depends in a complex manner on a number of parameters. These include the angle between radar and meteor entry, a large dependence on radar frequency, which shows that for a given meteor plasma size and density, the reflectivity as a function of probing radar frequency varies, but typically peaks below 100 MHz.     

武汉上空中层和低热层大气潮汐的流星雷达观测

武汉流星雷达是2002年元月建成的我国第一部全天空流星雷达，本文对2002年2月19日到7月31日流星雷达观测的潮汐的讨论表明，武汉中层顶以周日潮汐为潮汐运动的主要分量，它的强度远大于半日潮汐，周日潮汐和半日潮汐的波源都在80km以下．周日潮汐分量在3、4月份最强，并且经向分量略强于纬向分量．两个分量的峰值在约95km处出现，分别达到44m／s和60m／s．半日潮的最大值24m／s出现在4月初约93km处．周日潮汐和半日潮汐的振幅和相位随时间呈现出拟周期变化的特征，这可能是潮汐与行星波非线形相互作用的结果．观测结果与GSWM模型的比较表明，GSWM模型在相位随高度变化趋势上与观测结果一致，但模型的周日潮相位比观测约超前1—2h，半日潮相位约滞后1—4h．在周日潮汐较强的月份，模型与观测有较大的差异，观测的幅度通常在95km附近有极大值，而模型并没有极大值．GSWM模型对半日潮的幅度的估计通常过小，观测的半日潮汐幅度有时甚至超过模型值的一倍以上．     

Meteoroid bombardment as a source of the lunar exosphere

The column densities of impact-produced metal atoms in the exosphere during the peaks of activity of the main meteor showers – Geminids, Quadrantids and Perseids – and during quiet periods are estimated. The Na supply rate is estimated to be 2 × 10⁴, 3 × 10³, 10⁴, and 2 × 10⁴ atoms cm⁻² s⁻¹ for sporadic meteoroids, Perseid, Geminid, and Quadrantid meteor showers, respectively. A low upper limit on Ca in the lunar exosphere is explained by the condensation of Ca into dust grains during expansion of the cooling impact-produced vapor cloud. The chemical composition of gas-phase species released to the lunar exosphere during meteoroid impacts has been estimated. Most impact-produced molecules that contain metals are destroyed by solar photons while on ballistic trajectories. Energies of Na, K, Ca, and Mg atoms produced via photolysis of the respective monoxides are estimated to be 0.4, 0.35, 0.6, and 0.45 eV, respectively. The relative content of impact-produced Na and K atoms is maximal at altitudes of about 1000–2000 km and during the main meteor showers, lunar eclipses, and passages of the Moon through the Earth’s magnetosphere.     

Long-period meteor radar temperature variations over Collm (51°N, 13°E) and Kazan (56°N, 49°E)

We have estimated temperatures from meteor radar measurements using the gradient method and the full width at half maximum method over Kazan (56°N 49°E) and Collm (51°N, 13°E). The time series cover the period 2016–2019. The temperature gradient model is constructed from SABER temperature observations. We demonstrate that annual mean, amplitudes and phases of the annual and semiannual oscillations of the radar temperatures are close to those of the MLS and SABER temperatures. The annual mean temperatures over Kazan and Collm differ non-significantly. The seasonal variability of the radar temperature is mostly due to the annual cycle which tends to grow with latitude. The gradient method produces temperatures which agree with the SABER temperatures better than with the MLS ones. The harmonics of the annual oscillations from periods of 73 days up to periods of about 40 days are the most significant day-to-day temperature oscillations and have zonal wavenumber zero. Their periods and phases are in good correspondence with those of the MLS and SABER ones. We also show some results which demonstrate that at 56°N the FWHM method is not as robust as the gradient method.     

Connection between winter mesopause region temperatures and diurnal LF reflection height variations measured at Collm

Scale height, H, estimates are calculated from the decrease/increase of ionospheric virtual reflection heights of low-frequency (LF) radio waves at oblique incidence in suitably defined morning intervals around sunrise during winter months. The day-to-day variations of H qualitatively agree with daily mean temperature variations around 90 km from meteor radar measurements. Since mesospheric long-period temperature variations are generally accepted to be the signature of atmospheric planetary waves, this shows that LF reflection height measurements can be used for monitoring the dynamics of the upper middle atmosphere. The long-term variations of monthly mean H estimates have also been analysed. There is no significant trend, which is in agreement with other measurements of mesopause region temperature trends.     

Some features of the day-to-day MLT wind variability in winter 2017–2018 as seen with a European/Siberian meteor radar network

We present results of wind measurements near the mesopause carried out with meteor radars (MRs) at Collm (51°N, 13°E), Obninsk (55°N, 37°E), Kazan (56°N, 49°E), Angarsk (52°N, 104°E) and Anadyr (65°N, 178°E) from October 1, 2017 till March 31, 2018. The Collm and Kazan MRs are SKiYMET radars with vertical transmission and radio echo height finding, while the other radars operate with horizontal transmission and without height finding. We paid particular attention to the meridional wind variability with periods of 4–6 days and 9–11 days. The waves with these periods are seen as spots of the wave activity in the wavelet spectra and include oscillations with different periods and different discrete zonal wavenumbers. These wave packets successively propagate as a group of waves from one site to another one in such a way that they are observed at one site and almost disappear at the previous one. The 4–6 wave group includes planetary-scale oscillations (individual spectral components) which have eastward phase velocities and mostly zonal wavenumbers 2 and 3, and the vertical wavelength exceeds 70 km at middle latitudes. The source of the oscillations is the polar jet instability. The wave group itself propagates westward, and the amplitudes of wind oscillations are approximately 5–6 m/s as obtained from the wind data averaged over the meteor zone. The 9–11 day wave set propagates westward as a group and mainly consists of spectral components which have westward phase velocity and zonal wavenumber 1. Amplitudes of these wind perturbations strongly vary from station to station and can reach, approximately, 8 m/s. The vertical wavenumber is 0.014 km⁻¹ as taken from the Kazan and 0.05 km⁻¹ according to the Collm data. We obtained a global view on the waves by using the AURA MLS geopotential data. We found a good correspondence between wave features obtained from the MR wind measurements and the MLS data. To our knowledge, such a wave propagation of planetary wave in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region has so far not obtained much attention.     

全天空流星雷达相位差监测分析方法研究

介绍了一种直接利用流星观测数据, 根据流星的时空分布特性和天线的空间布阵关系建立数学模型, 对全天空流星雷达各天线通道的相位差进行监测分析和估算的新方法. 通过分析全天空流星雷达的流星观测数据, 获得了流星时空分布特性, 天线阵相位差变化对流星空间分布的影响, 特别是流星高度分布的标准差特性与各天线相位差的关系. 在此基础上, 模拟研究了利用流星高度分布的标准差来估算天线相位差的偏差, 并应用于中国三亚地区全天空流星雷达进行相位差监测分析和校正. 结果表明, 新方法无需任何附加硬件, 通过日常观测数据就能对某一通道的相位差变化或多个通道的相位差变化进行估算和分析,相位差监测精度优于2°. 对这些相位差变化进行校正, 可有效提高全天空流星雷达对流星的定位测量精度.      

An intercomparison of meteor radar measurements at the South Pole using two different processing systems

A new meteor radar system was installed at the Amundsen–Scott station South Pole in 2001 to further the understanding of the dynamics of the Antarctic region. The antenna array consists of four yagis pointed along the 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270° meridians and five folded crossed dipoles arranged in a cross configuration and operating as an interferometer to provide position measurements for the detected radio meteors. The four yagis are time division multiplexed and used for both transmitting and receiving while the five folded crossed dipoles are only used for reception. The current arrangement of data acquisition (DAQ) systems at the South Pole allows the collection of meteors in a configuration similar to the previous meteor radar system that operated at the South Pole in the mid 1990s while also using an interferometer to accurately determine the meteor positions in the sky, which enables the determination of the vertical structure of the observed waves. This has been accomplished through the use of two DAQ and post-processing systems: COBRA (Colorado Obninsk radar) connected to the yagis and MEDAC (meteor echo detection and collection) connected to the folded crossed dipoles. With two separate DAQ systems operating in parallel we have the ability to directly compare the results and understand the inherent variability in the derived scientific results based on different system architectures and processing assumptions. The impact of operating a system without an interferometer on the amplitudes and phases of the observed wave components is considered. We find that the lack of altitude resolution of the COBRA DAQ system leads to an underestimation of the amplitude of the s = 1 component of the semidiurnal tide of ∼20% during the summer months.     

Meteor radar temperatures over Collm (51.3°N, 13°E)

The method of obtaining absolute temperature estimates by measuring the ambipolar diffusion coefficient with meteor radars in the mesopause region is basically well known. However, there is still a need to refine and adjust the background temperature gradient model which is necessary to calculate the temperature values. Therefore, a detailed comparison with independent temperature measurements is necessary to evaluate the performance of the method and to obtain more information about the temperature gradient. Recent studies provide some evidence that the impact of the gradient model on temperature estimates affects the absolute temperatures, but that it is of minor importance for wave analysis. This paper focuses on a detailed evaluation of the meteor radar temperatures by comparing them with SABER satellite and OH-emission mesopause region temperatures. The seasonal variation of the observed temperatures is well reproduced by the COMMA general circulation model.