Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance
The mesosphere is one of the most difficult parts of the atmosphere to sample; it is too high for balloon measurements and too low for in situ satellites. Consequently, there is a reliance on remote sensing (either from the ground or from space) to diagnose this region. Ground-based radars have been...
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ftnerc:oai:nora.nerc.ac.uk:525275 2023-05-15T13:41:44+02:00 Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance Gibbins, Maude Kavanagh, Andrew 2020-05-28 text http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525275/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525275/7/gi-9-223-2020.pdf https://www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/9/223/2020/ en eng Copernicus https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525275/7/gi-9-223-2020.pdf Gibbins, Maude; Kavanagh, Andrew orcid:0000-0001-7360-7039 . 2020 Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance. Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems, 9 (1). 223-228. https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-223-2020 <https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-223-2020> cc_by_4 CC-BY Publication - Article PeerReviewed 2020 ftnerc https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-223-2020 2023-02-04T19:49:18Z The mesosphere is one of the most difficult parts of the atmosphere to sample; it is too high for balloon measurements and too low for in situ satellites. Consequently, there is a reliance on remote sensing (either from the ground or from space) to diagnose this region. Ground-based radars have been used since the second half of the 20th century to probe the dynamics of the mesosphere; medium-frequency (MF) radars provide estimates of the horizontal wind fields and are still used to analyse tidal structures and planetary waves that modulate the meridional and zonal winds. The variance of the winds has traditionally been linked qualitatively to the occurrence of gravity waves. In this paper, the method of wind retrieval (full correlation analysis) employed by MF radars is considered with reference to two systems in Antarctica at different latitude (Halley at 76∘ S and Rothera at 67∘ S). It is shown that the width of the velocity distribution and occurrence of “outliers” is related to the measured levels of anisotropy in the received signal pattern. The magnitude of the error distribution, as represented by the wind variance, varies with both insolation levels and geomagnetic activity. Thus, it is demonstrated that for these two radars the influence of gravity waves may not be the primary mechanism that controls the overall variance. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctica Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive Rothera ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems 9 1 223 238 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Natural Environment Research Council: NERC Open Research Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftnerc |
language |
English |
description |
The mesosphere is one of the most difficult parts of the atmosphere to sample; it is too high for balloon measurements and too low for in situ satellites. Consequently, there is a reliance on remote sensing (either from the ground or from space) to diagnose this region. Ground-based radars have been used since the second half of the 20th century to probe the dynamics of the mesosphere; medium-frequency (MF) radars provide estimates of the horizontal wind fields and are still used to analyse tidal structures and planetary waves that modulate the meridional and zonal winds. The variance of the winds has traditionally been linked qualitatively to the occurrence of gravity waves. In this paper, the method of wind retrieval (full correlation analysis) employed by MF radars is considered with reference to two systems in Antarctica at different latitude (Halley at 76∘ S and Rothera at 67∘ S). It is shown that the width of the velocity distribution and occurrence of “outliers” is related to the measured levels of anisotropy in the received signal pattern. The magnitude of the error distribution, as represented by the wind variance, varies with both insolation levels and geomagnetic activity. Thus, it is demonstrated that for these two radars the influence of gravity waves may not be the primary mechanism that controls the overall variance. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gibbins, Maude Kavanagh, Andrew |
spellingShingle |
Gibbins, Maude Kavanagh, Andrew Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
author_facet |
Gibbins, Maude Kavanagh, Andrew |
author_sort |
Gibbins, Maude |
title |
Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
title_short |
Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
title_full |
Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
title_fullStr |
Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
title_sort |
mesospheric winds measured by mf radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance |
publisher |
Copernicus |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525275/ https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525275/7/gi-9-223-2020.pdf https://www.geosci-instrum-method-data-syst.net/9/223/2020/ |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-68.130,-68.130,-67.568,-67.568) |
geographic |
Rothera |
geographic_facet |
Rothera |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctica |
op_relation |
https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/525275/7/gi-9-223-2020.pdf Gibbins, Maude; Kavanagh, Andrew orcid:0000-0001-7360-7039 . 2020 Mesospheric winds measured by MF radar with full correlation analysis: error properties and impacts on studies of wind variance. Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems, 9 (1). 223-228. https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-223-2020 <https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-223-2020> |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-223-2020 |
container_title |
Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
223 |
op_container_end_page |
238 |
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