MAUI/MALT: A Meteor Radar for Collaborative Investigations of Waves, Winds, and Temperatures in the Mesosphere Above Haleakala, Hawaii

University Of Illinois At Urbana-Champaign, Urbana IL

Investigators

Abstract

The investigators will deploy a meteor radar system at the Maui Space Surveillance Site near the summit of Haleakala, Hawaii, to study the spectrum of wind and temperature variability in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Continuous wind and temperature measurements provided by the meteor radar are crucial for interpreting the simultaneous airglow and lidar observations. In addition, the meteor radar observations of winds and temperatures combined with high resolution lidar measurements of temperatures will make it possible to characterize tidal oscillations in both the wind and temperature field and their seasonal variations. The meteor radar will measure the background wind field necessary to determine the periods of wind-shifted observed waves, and assess the role of instrumental filtering in the presence of variable wind shifting of the wave spectrum when interpreting statistical summaries of wave properties produced by the optical instruments. The effort will take advantage of the unique opportunity provided by the collocation of the sodium Doppler lidar and meteor radar to validate and refine the newly developed meteor radar and temperature measurement technique. This new technique offers the potential for continuous long-term monitoring of temperatures for investigations of the secular, annual, and tidal variations of the temperature field in the mesopause region.