Mesospheric radar wind comparisons at high and middle southern latitudes

• Published in: Earth, Planets and Space
• Main Authors: Iain M. Reid, Daniel L. McIntosh, Damian J. Murphy, Robert A. Vincent
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: SpringerOpen 2018
• Subjects: Medium-frequency partial reflection radar; Meteor radar; Davis station; Winds; Geography. Anthropology. Recreation; G; Geodesy; QB275-343; Geology; QE1-996.5; Davis Station; Davis-Station; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.1186/s40623-018-0861-1; https://doaj.org/article/1c4ccb9e97e243908b4b79ee07f92c53

Abstract We compare hourly averaged neutral winds derived from two meteor radars operating at 33.2 and 55 MHz to estimate the errors in these measurements. We then compare the meteor radar winds with those from a medium-frequency partial reflection radar operating at 1.94 MHz. These three radars are located at Davis Station, Antarctica. We then consider a middle-latitude 55 MHz meteor radar wind comparison with a 1.98 MHz medium-frequency partial reflection radar to determine how representative the Davis results are. At both sites, the medium-frequency radar winds are clearly underestimated, and the underestimation increases from 80 km to the maximum height of 98 km. Correction factors are suggested for these results.