Investigation of PMSE echoes characteristics using the discontinuous EISCAT UHF observation and its relation with space environment

• Main Authors: Rauf, Abdur, Hailong, Li, Ullah, Safi, Maoyan, Wang, Lin, Meng
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Polar Research Institute of China - PRIC 2019
• Subjects: Space; Advances in Polar Science; EISCAT; Polar Science
• Online Access: http://library.arcticportal.org/2688/; http://library.arcticportal.org/2688/1/A1902005.pdf

The observations of Polar Mesosphere Summer Echoes (PMSE) were carried out using the sporadic data of EISCAT UHF radar during the summer season from 2004 to 2015. There were 25 h of PMSE echoes with EISCAT UHF radar. PMSE echoes were mostly observed only during the early morning and fore-noon time. Moreover, the PMSE echoes are positively correlated with Lyman α radiation, but the correlation is non-significant. The occurrence of PMSE echoes in the early morning and fore-noon time and there positive correlation with Lyman α radiation suggests that solar radiations might be one important factor for PMSE echoes in this study. Very weak positive, but statistically non-significant correlation is found between PMSE occurrence rate and the local geomagnetic K-indices. It is found that there is a matching between the variation in the occurrence rate of PMSE and noctilucent clouds (NLC) up to some extent and they are positively correlated. This positive correlation might support the earlier proposed idea about the role of ice particle size in producing PMSE echoes at higher frequencies.