Simultaneous Observations of Noctilucent Clouds and Polar Mesospheric Radar Echoes: Evidence of Noncorrelation

Noctilucent clouds (NLC) and strong polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) appear at similar heights, similar latitudes and at about the same time of year. To determine whether these two phenomena are related in detail, a visual and photographic search for NLC over the EISCAT radar site at Tromsö, No...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Planetary and Space Science
Main Authors: Taylor, Michael J., van Eyken, A. P., Rishbeth, H., Witt, G., Clilverd, M. A.
Other Authors: Elsevier
Format: Text
Language:unknown
Published: Hosted by Utah State University Libraries 1989
Subjects:
simultaneous
noctilucent clouds
polar mesospheric radar echoes
noncorrelation
Physics
Norway
EISCAT
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/physics_facpub/1276
https://doi.org/10.1016/0032-0633(89)90056-1
Description
Summary:Noctilucent clouds (NLC) and strong polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) appear at similar heights, similar latitudes and at about the same time of year. To determine whether these two phenomena are related in detail, a visual and photographic search for NLC over the EISCAT radar site at Tromsö, Norway, was made on several nights in August 1988 when the VHP radar was observing in the zenith at mesospheric heights. Both phenomena were observed several times during the campaign, but only once did they occur simultaneously. These observations indicate that noctilucent clouds and PMSE are not closely correlated, at least during the late summer. Auroral particle precipitation appeared to enhance the detectability of PMSE during this period.

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