On the correction of temperatures derived from meteor wind radars due to geomagnetic activity

Radars used to observe meteor trails in the mesosphere deliver information on winds and temperature. Use of these radars is becoming a standard method for determining mesospheric dynamics and temperatures worldwide due to relatively low costs and ease of deployment. However, recent studies have reve...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Published in:Experimental Results
Main Authors: C. M. Hall, M. G. Johnsen, Jacob Carley
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2021
Subjects:
T
R
Q
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1017/exp.2021.11
https://doaj.org/article/ad4793dbd5264b53b64a986fd70dfc21
Description
Summary:Radars used to observe meteor trails in the mesosphere deliver information on winds and temperature. Use of these radars is becoming a standard method for determining mesospheric dynamics and temperatures worldwide due to relatively low costs and ease of deployment. However, recent studies have revealed that temperatures may be overestimated in conditions such as high geomagnetic activity. The effect is thought to be most prevalent at high latitude, although this is not yet proven. Here, we demonstrate how temperatures might be corrected for geomagnetic effects; the demonstration is for a particular geographic location (Svalbard, 78°N, 16°E) because it is local geomagnetic disturbances that affects local temperature measurements, therefore requiring co-located instruments. We see that summer temperatures require a correction (reduction) of a few Kelvin, but winter estimates are more accurate.