Some observations of tropical tropopause using ST mode of the Indian MST radar: Multiple stable layer structure

75-85Specular type of echoes are observed, at vertical incidence, from regions of strong hydrostatic stability in the atmosphere by using a high power VHF radar. This ability of the clear air radar has been used by many investigators at mid and high latitude stations for detection and monitoring of Tropopause. The Indian MST radar has been installed at Gadanki (13.47°N, 79.18°E), a tropical station. Recently the ST mode of this system, as an intermediate stage, became available for scientific observations with an average power-aperture product of 4.8 x 106 Wm2. High-range-resolution vertical soundings have been carried out using this system to study the tropopause at this tropical station. The multiple layer structures are observed near the tropopause. These thin layers are found to vary in height structure over a period of more than an hour. In addition to multiple layer structures near the tropopause, other stable layers are also observed at lower heights in the troposphere. A simple mode is developed to computer the radar SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) using the meteorological parameters from the radiosonde observations taken at Madras (13.04°N, 80.17°E). The radiosonde-based model profiles are found to be in gross agreement with the radar SNR profiles. However, the radiosonde-derived profiles do not reveal the multiple layer structures detected by the radar near the tropopause

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