A study of atmospheric oscillations in the meteor region above Grahamstown

The dynamics of the atmospheric meteor region have been studied using the data obtained with - - the Grahamstown (33°16'S, 26:30'E) meteor radar between the years 1987 and 1993 inclusive. Harmonic analysis and the maximum entropy method (MEM) , were used for the spectral characterization ofthe wind above Grahamstown. The prevailing wind, tidal (periods 12- and 24- h) and other (periods 8- and 6-h) oscillations were extracted from the data using the guidelines agreed upon by the A TMAP community. Above Grahamstown the zonal and meridional prevailing winds were found to be predominantly eastward and equatorward respectively. Tidal amplitudes are comparable to the magnitude of the prevailing wind vector, with the diurnal tide being stronger than the semidiurnal tide. The phase differences between ,the zonal and meridional components of the semidiurnal and diurnal tides are - 2 hand - 5 h respectively, which is in reasonable agreement with the corresponding expected values of3 hand 6 h. The tidal wind vectors are on average elliptically polarized with anticlockwise rotation. Longitudinal and day-to-day tidal variations were studied. From the longitudinal study, the semidiurnal tide was found to be dominated by migrating modes, while the diurnal tidal behaviour suggests the presence of nonmigrating modes with zonal wavenumber s = 4. Tides were found to be variable from day to day with little apparent correlation between the zonal and meridional components of the respective tides

LiDAR for Atmosphere Research over Africa (LARA)

International audienceThis paper describes the LIDAR for atmosphere research over Africa and current initiatives being undertaken in South Africa. A mobile LIDAR system is being developed at the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) National Laser Centre (NLC), Pretoria (25°5 ′ S;28°2 ′ E), South Africa, for remote sensing the atmosphere. The initial results conclude that the system is capable of providing aerosol/cloud backscatter measurements for the height region from ground to 40 km with a 10 m vertical height resolution

Study on the impact of sudden stratosphere warming in the upper mesosphere-lower thermosphere regions using satellite and HF radar measurements

International audienceThe occurrence of a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) excites disturbances in the mesosphere-lower thermospheric (MLT) wind and temperature. Here, we have examined the high frequency (HF) radar wind data from the South African National Antarctic Expedition, SANAE (72 S, 3 W), a radar which is part of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) on board the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite temperature data and National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) temperature and wind data are used to investigate the dynamical effects of the unprecedented September 2002 SSW in the Antarctica stratosphere and MLT. The mean zonal wind (from SANAE HF radar) at the MLT shows reversal approximately 7 days before the reversal at 10 hPa (from NCEP). This indicates that there was a downwards propagation of circulation disturbance. Westerly zonal winds dominate the winter MLT, but during the 2002 winter there are many periods of westward winds observed compared to other years. The normalised power spectrums of both meridional andzonal winds show presence of planetary waves (of 14-day period) before the occurrence of the SSW. The SABER vertical temperature profiles indicated the cooling of the MLT region before the SSW event

Study on the impact of Sudden Stratospheric warming in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere region using satellite and HF radar measurements

International audienceCommunication about Study on the impact of Sudden Stratospheric warming in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere region using satellite and HF radar measurement

Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) atmospheric structure, coupling and dynamics using ground-based and satellite instruments

International audienceCommunication about Mesosphere-Lower Thermosphere (MLT) atmospheric structure, coupling and dynamics using ground-based and satellite instrument

Study on the impact of sudden stratosphere warming in the upper mesosphere-lower thermosphere regions using satellite and HF radar measurements

The occurrence of a sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) excites disturbances in the mesosphere-lower thermospheric (MLT) wind and temperature. Here, we have examined the high frequency (HF) radar wind data from the South African National Antarctic Expedition, SANAE (72 S, 3 W), a radar which is part of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) on board the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere-Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite temperature data and National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) temperature and wind data are used to investigate the dynamical effects of the unprecedented September 2002 SSW in the Antarctica stratosphere and MLT. The mean zonal wind (from SANAE HF radar) at the MLT shows reversal approximately 7 days before the reversal at 10 hPa (from NCEP). This indicates that there was a downwards propagation of circulation disturbance. Westerly zonal winds dominate the winter MLT, but during the 2002 winter there are many periods of westward winds observed compared to other years. The normalised power spectrums of both meridional and zonal winds show presence of planetary waves (of 14-day period) before the occurrence of the SSW. The SABER vertical temperature profiles indicated the cooling of the MLT region before the SSW event

Durban Rayleigh LiDAR measurments of stratospheric-mesospheric temperature structures

International audienceCommunication about Durban Rayleigh LiDAR measurments of stratospheric-mesospheric temperature structure

Observations of a middle atmosphere thermal structure over Durban using a ground-based Rayleigh LIDAR and satellite data

Studying the middle atmospheric thermal structure over southern Africa is an important activity to improve the understanding of atmospheric dynamics of this region. Observations of a middle atmosphere thermal structure over Durban, South Africa (29.9°S, 31.0°E) using the Durban Rayleigh Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) data collected over 277 nights from April 1999 to July 2004, including closest overpasses of the Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry (SABER) and Halogen Occultation Experiments (HALOE) satellites, are presented in this paper. There seems to be good agreement between the LIDAR and satellite observations. During autumn and winter, the temperatures measured by the LIDAR in the height region between 40 km and 55 km were 5 K to 12 K higher than those measured by the satellites. The data from the LIDAR instrument and the SABER and HALOE satellites exhibited the presence of an annual oscillation in the stratosphere, whereas in the mesosphere, semi-annual oscillations dominated the annual oscillation at some levels. The stratopause was observed in the height range of ~40 km – 55 km by all the instruments, with the stratopause temperatures measured as 260 K – 270 K by the LIDAR, 250 K – 260 K by the SABER and 250 K – 270 K by the HALOE. Data from the SABER and HALOE satellites indicated almost the same thermal structure for the middle atmosphere over Durban

LiDAR for Atmosphere Research over Africa (LARA)

International audienceCommunication about LiDAR for Atmosphere Research over Africa (LARA

LIDAR for atmosphere Research over Africa: A trilateral research programme (LARA-TRIP)

International audienceThis paper describes the importance of LIDAR for atmosphere research over Africa and the initiatives being undertaken to foster such research. A mobile LIDAR system is to be employed for field campaign measurements over different locations around South Africa and Africa