Studies of the PMWE : Polar Mesosphere Winter Echoes

• Main Author: Persson, Simon
• Format: Bachelor Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: Luleå tekniska universitet, Institutionen för system- och rymdteknik 2022
• Subjects: Polar; Mesosphere; Winter; Echoes; ESRAD; Infrasound; PMWE; PMSE; Summer; Radar; VHF; MST; MLT; SPE; HSS; Solar; Wind; evanescent; viscosity; FCA; 42; Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences; Meteorologi och atmosfärforskning; Esrange; Kirkwood; Kiruna; Sergienko; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-90430

This Master thesis examines a phenomenon that occurs in the upper polar atmosphere, namely, Polar Mesospheric Winter Echoes, or PMWEs. PMWEs are radar echoes observed by Very High Frequency Mesosphere Stratosphere Troposphere (VHF MST) radar, from altitudes of 60 to 76 km at 7 to 15 UT, in the winter months from the middle of September to the beginning of May. The aforementioned specifications are the partial results of this thesis.PMWEs are generally understood to be caused by turbulence; however, radar data indicate some rare cases where PMWEs can be created with velocities exceeding the speed of sound, which is not possible with current turbulence theory. Kirkwood et al., 2006 and Belova, Kirkwood, and Sergienko, 2013 hypothesised that infrasound could generate the necessary conditions for PMWEs with velocities equal to or exceeding the speed of sound. Observations of PMWEs presented in this thesis have been carried out by the MST radar ESRAD, located at Esrange (67 56’N, 21 04’E) near Kiruna in northern Sweden. The radar operates at 52 MHz and has been performing continuous radar observations since Dec 1996. Observations of the infrasounds presented in this thesis were carried out by a microbarometer located close to Rymdcampus in Kiruna. Access to the data is restricted, but through university administration, this master’s thesis has been granted permission to use the data for the study of PMWEs. The instrument performed continuous infrasound measurements from the 24th of May 2016 and forward. This thesis will perform a full analysis of all radar data from the 17th of Dec 1996 until the 31st of Jan 2021 to assess the altitude interval, diurnal interval and yearly interval. The data given in the first section are a result of this work. Additionally, space weather parameters relation with the occurrence of PMWEs is analysed. Space weather parameters are very important for the chemistry and conditions present in the mesosphere. It is shown thatt here is a strong relation between solar wind and PMWE occurrence, ...