On the evaluation of the phase relation between temperature and wind tides based on ground-based measurements and reanalysis data in the middle atmosphere

The variability in the middle atmosphere is driven by a variety of waves covering different spatial and temporal scales. We diagnose the variability in the thermal tides due to changes in the background wind by an adaptive spectral filter, which takes the intermittency of tides into account. We apply this diagnostic to temperature observations from daylight-capable lidar at midlatitudes (54° N, 12° E) as well as to reanalysis data of horizontal winds from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version 2 (MERRA-2). These reanalysis data provide additional wind information in the altitude range between 30 and 70 km at the location of the lidar as well as on a global scale. Using the global data gives information on the tidal modes seen at one location. A comparison of the temperature and wind information affirms whether there is a fixed phase relation of the tidal waves in the temperature and the wind data. We found that in general the local tidal signatures are dominated by migrating tidal modes, and the signature is weaker in temperatures than in winds. While the meridional wind tide leads the zonal wind tide by 90°, the phase relation between the temperature and the wind tide is more complex. At certain altitudes the temperature tide follows the zonal wind tide. This knowledge helps in improving the interpretation of the seasonal variation in tides from different observables, especially when only data from single locations are used. The findings provide additional information about the phase stability of tidal waves, and the results clearly show the importance of a measurement acquisition on a routine basis with high temporal and spatial resolution. © 2019 Author(s)

Cosmic Noise Observation with a Standard Meteor Radar

Die Nutzung von Riometern (Relative Ionospheric Opacity Meter) zur Messung relativer atmosphärischer Absorption (in dB) ist eine etablierte Methode. Hingegen ist die Messung atmosphärischer Absorption mit absolutkalibrierten Radaren in Form einer Rauschtemperatur eher selten durchgeführt worden. In dieser Arbeit werden die Möglichkeiten einer absoluten Radarkalibrierung für ein kommerzielles SKiYMET-System vorgestellt. Die gemessene QDC (Quiet Day Curve, eine Referenzkurve für ungestörte Tage) wird dabei mit Referenzdaten verglichen. Daran wird der Einfluss des Antennenmusters auf die QDC verdeutlicht und quantitativ dargestellt. Die erreichte Genauigkeit beträgt dabei ungefähr 600 K. Die kontinuierliche und stabile Beobachtung erlaubt es, die Kopplung der Ionosphäre mit der solaren Aktivität zu untersuchen, ohne den normalen Betrieb zur Meteoranalyse zu unterbrechen.The observation of relative atmospheric absorption (in dB) using Riometers (Relative Ionospheric Opacity Meter) is a well established method. However, the measurement of atmospheric absorption as a noise temperature with absolutely calibrated radars has rarely been realized. This work demonstrates the possibilities to perform an absolute radar calibration for standard SKiYMET meteor radars. The measured QDC (Quiet Day Curve) and the comparison to a reference QDC illustrates the capability to quantify the effect of the antenna pattern. The achieved accuracy for a QDC is approximately 600 K. The high stability of the observation during normal meteor mode allows also to investigate the ionospheric response caused by the coupling of the solar activity

Meteor head velocity determination

Meteore, die in die Atmosphäre eindringen, bilden bei hohen Oberflächentemperaturen, die durch Kollisionen mit der umgebenden Luft hervorgerufen werden, einen mehrere Kilometer langen Plasmaschweif aus. An diesem Schweif werden ausgesandte Radarwellen reflektiert und zurückgestreut. Dies führt zu einem charakteristischen Schwingungsverhalten, auch Fresnel Zonen genannt, am Empfänger. Die Überlagerung dieser Wellen ist verantwortlich für die typische Signalform eines Meteors, mit dem abrupten Anstieg und dem exponentiellen Abfall für \'underdense\' Meteore. Mit Hilfe einer Simulation wird der theoretische Zusammenhang zwischen Geschwindigkeit und Signalverlauf demonstriert. Des weiteren wird gezeigt, das die Methode von Baggaley et al. [1997] zur Bestimmung von Meteoreintrittsgeschwindigkeiten auch auf ein Radarinterferometer (SKiYMET) anwendbar ist. Abschliessend werden die gewonnen Ergebnisse mit einem anderen Verfahren sowie der Literatur verglichen.Meteors, penetrating the earths atmosphere, creating at high surface temperatures, which are caused by collisions with the surrounding air molecules, a several kilometer long plasma trail. The ionized plasma backscatters transmitted radar waves. This leads to characteristic oscillations, called Fresnel zones, at the receiver. The interference of these waves entails the typical signal shape of a underdense meteor with the sudden rise of the signal and the exponential decay. By means of a simulation the theoretical connection between velocity and signal shape is demonstrated. Furthermore it is presented, that the method from Baggaley et al. [1997] for determination of meteor entry velocities is applicable for a radar interferometer (SKiYMET). Finally the results are compared to other radar methods on similar equipment and to other experiments

Climatologies and long-term changes in mesospheric wind and wave measurements based on radar observations at high and mid latitudes

We report on long-term observations of atmospheric parameters in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) made over the last 2 decades. Within this study, we show, based on meteor wind measurement, the long-term variability of winds, tides, and kinetic energy of planetary and gravity waves. These measurements were done between the years 2002 and 2018 for the high-latitude location of Andenes (69.3°N, 16°E) and the mid-latitude locations of Juliusruh (54.6°N, 13.4°E) and Tavistock (43.3°N, 80.8°W). While the climatologies for each location show a similar pattern, the locations differ strongly with respect to the altitude and season of several parameters. Our results show annual wind tendencies for Andenes which are toward the south and to the west, with changes of up to 3°m s-1 per decade, while the mid-latitude locations show smaller opposite tendencies to negligible changes. The diurnal tides show nearly no significant long-term changes, while changes for the semidiurnal tides differ regarding altitude. Andenes shows only during winter a tidal weakening above 90°km, while for the Canadian Meteor Orbit Radar (CMOR) an enhancement of the semidiurnal tides during the winter and a weakening during fall occur. Furthermore, the kinetic energy for planetary waves showed strong peak values during winters which also featured the occurrence of sudden stratospheric warming. The influence of the 11-year solar cycle on the winds and tides is presented. The amplitudes of the mean winds exhibit a significant amplitude response for the zonal component below 82°km during summer and from November to December between 84 and 95°km at Andenes and CMOR. The semidiurnal tides (SDTs) show a clear 11-year response at all locations, from October to November. © 2019 by ASME

Mesopause region temperatures over Collm (51.3° N, 13° E)

Seit August 2004 wird am geophysikalischen Observatorium Collm (51.3° N, 13° E) ein SKiYMET Meteor-Radar betrieben. Dieses liefert seitdem kontinuierliche Temperaturwerte und Windmessungen. Die Grundlage des Messverfahrens stellt ein stetiger Fluss von Meteoren dar, die in einer Höhe von 75-105 km verglühen. Aus den mit dem Radar bestimmten Positionen der Meteore können Temperaturen in der Mesopausenregion abgeschätzt werden. Für die Darstellung des Jahresganges wurden Tagesmittelwerte genutzt. Dabei tritt im Sommer ein Temperaturminimum mit ca. 170 K auf. Im Winter ist die Situation durch Temperaturen von 205 K und starker planetarer Wellenaktivität gekennzeichnet. Desweiteren konnte eine Klimatologie für die ganz-, halbtägigen und 8-stündigen Gezeiten erstellt werden.Since August 2004 a SKiYMET meteor-Radar is operated at the geophysical Observatory Collm, Germany (51.3° N, 13° E). The radar provides a continuous time series of temperature and wind measurements. The bases for this method is a steady flux of meteors entering the earth’s atmosphere. In an altitude between 75-105 km they form a cylindrical plasma trail, which reflects radar signals. Hence the system can determine the positions of the meteors, which are used to estimate mesopause region temperatures. For the diagram of the seasonal change we used daily mean temperatures. The summer shows a temperature minimum with 170 K. During the Winter we observed temperatures about 205 K and a stronger planetary wave activity. Another part was the generation of a climatology for the diurnal, semidiurnal und terdiurnal tide

A comparison of 11-year mesospheric and lower thermospheric winds determined by meteor and MF radar at 69 ° N

The Andenes Meteor Radar (MR) and the Saura Medium Frequency (MF) Radar are located in northern Norway (69° N, 16° E) and operate continuously to provide wind measurements of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region. We compare the two systems to find potential biases between the radars and combine the data from both systems to enhance altitudinal coverage between 60 and 110 km. The systems have altitudinal overlap between 78 and 100 km at which we compare winds and tides on the basis of hourly winds with 2 km altitude bins. Our results indicate reasonable agreement for the zonal and meridional wind components between 78 and 92 km. An exception to this is the altitude range below 84 km during the summer, at which the correlation decreases. We also compare semidiurnal and diurnal tides according to their amplitudes and phases with good agreement below 90 km for the diurnal and below 96 km for the semidiurnal tides. Based on these findings we have taken the MR data as a reference. By comparing the MF and MR winds within the overlapping region, we have empirically estimated correction factors to be applied to the MF winds. Existing gaps in that data set will be filled with weighted MF data. This weighting is done due to underestimated wind values of the MF compared to the MR, and the resulting correction factors fit to a polynomial function of second degree within the overlapping area. We are therefore able to construct a consistent and homogenous wind from approximately 60 to 110 km

Ozone and water vapor variability in the polar middle atmosphere observed with ground-based microwave radiometers

Leveraging continuous ozone and water vapor measurements with the two ground-based radiometers GROMOS-C and MIAWARA-C at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard (79∘ N, 12∘ E) that started in September 2015 and combining MERRA-2 and Aura-MLS datasets, we analyze the interannual behavior and differences in ozone and water vapor and compile climatologies of both trace gases describing the annual variation of ozone and water vapor at polar latitudes. A climatological comparison of the measurements from our ground-based radiometers with reanalysis and satellite data was performed. Overall differences between GROMOS-C and Aura-MLS ozone volume mixing ratio (VMR) climatology are mainly within ±7 % throughout the middle and upper stratosphere and exceed 10 % in the lower mesosphere (1–0.1 hPa) in March and October. For the water vapor climatology, the average 5 % agreement is between MIAWARA-C and Aura-MLS water vapor VMR values throughout the stratosphere and mesosphere (100–0.01 hPa). The comparison to MERRA-2 yields an agreement that reveals discrepancies larger than 50 % above 0.2 hPa depending on the implemented radiative transfer schemes and other model physics. Furthermore, we perform a conjugate latitude comparison by defining a virtual station in the Southern Hemisphere at the geographic coordinate (79∘ S, 12∘ E) to investigate interhemispheric differences in the atmospheric compositions. Both trace gases show much more pronounced interannual and seasonal variability in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern Hemisphere. We estimate the effective water vapor transport vertical velocities corresponding to upwelling and downwelling periods driven by the residual circulation. In the Northern Hemisphere, the water vapor ascent rate (5 May to 20 June in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2021 and 15 April to 31 May in 2019 and 2020) is 3.4 ± 1.9 mm s−1 from MIAWARA-C and 4.6 ± 1.8 mm s−1 from Aura-MLS, and the descent rate (15 September to 31 October in 2015–2021) is 5.0 ± 1.1 mm s−1 from MIAWARA-C and 5.4 ± 1.5 mm s−1 from Aura-MLS at the altitude range of about 50–70 km. The water vapor ascent (15 October to 30 November in 2015–2021) and descent rates (15 March to 30 April in 2015–2021) in the Southern Hemisphere are 5.2 ± 0.8 and 2.6 ± 1.4 mm s−1 from Aura-MLS, respectively. The water vapor transport vertical velocities analysis further reveals a higher variability in the Northern Hemisphere and is suitable to monitor and characterize the evolution of the northern and southern polar dynamics linked to the polar vortex as a function of time and altitude

High-resolution vertical velocities and their power spectrum observed with the MAARSY radar – Part 1: frequency spectrum

The Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System (MAARSY) installed at the island of Andøya has been run for continuous probing of atmospheric winds in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS) region. In the current study, we present high-resolution wind measurements during the period between 2010 and 2013 with MAARSY. The spectral analysis applying the Lomb–Scargle periodogram method has been carried out to determine the frequency spectra of vertical wind velocity. From a total of 522 days of observations, the statistics of the spectral slope have been derived and show a dependence on the background wind conditions. It is a general feature that the observed spectra of vertical velocity during active periods (with wind velocity > 10 m s−1) are much steeper than during quiet periods (with wind velocity < 10 m s−1). The distribution of spectral slopes is roughly symmetric with a maximum at −5/3 during active periods, whereas a very asymmetric distribution with a maximum at around −1 is observed during quiet periods. The slope profiles along altitudes reveal a significant height dependence for both conditions, i.e., the spectra become shallower with increasing altitudes in the upper troposphere and maintain roughly a constant slope in the lower stratosphere. With both wind conditions considered together the general spectra are obtained and their slopes are compared with the background horizontal winds. The comparisons show that the observed spectra become steeper with increasing wind velocities under quiet conditions, approach a spectral slope of −5/3 at a wind velocity of 10 m s−1 and then roughly maintain this slope (−5/3) for even stronger winds. Our findings show an overall agreement with previous studies; furthermore, they provide a more complete climatology of frequency spectra of vertical wind velocities under different wind conditions

Seasonal variability of atmospheric tides in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere: Meteor radar data and simulations

Thermal tides play an important role in the global atmospheric dynamics and provide a key mechanism for the forcing of thermosphere–ionosphere dynamics from below. A method for extracting tidal contributions, based on the adaptive filtering, is applied to analyse multi-year observations of mesospheric winds from ground-based meteor radars located in northern Germany and Norway. The observed seasonal variability of tides is compared to simulations with the Kühlungsborn Mechanistic Circulation Model (KMCM). It is demonstrated that the model provides reasonable representation of the tidal amplitudes, though substantial differences from observations are also noticed. The limitations of applying a conventionally coarse-resolution model in combination with parametrisation of gravity waves are discussed. The work is aimed towards the development of an ionospheric model driven by the dynamics of the KMCM