CEDAR: Investigations of Gravity Wave Coupling Between the Mesosphere and Thermosphere in the Southern Hemisphere

Trustees Of Boston University, Boston

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this project is to investigate the occurrence, propagation characteristics, and coupling processes of atmospheric gravity waves in the Earth's atmosphere, from the troposphere up to the mesosphere and lower thermosphere, at Southern mid-latitudes. A multi-wavelength all-sky imager currently resides at the Mount John Observatory in New Zealand and will be used to record meospheric gravity wave activity. A second imager will be installed at a field station further to the south of Mount John, at Lauder, Otago, to provide greater coverage during DEEPWAVE and to minimize poor weather conditions at either location during the winter campaign period. The Mount John instrument is co-located with other ground-based instrumentation relevant to mesospheric and thermospheric observations. The co-located multi-diagnostic measurements will consist of mesospheric and thermospheric winds and temperatures obtained by two Fabry-Perot spectrometers and mesospheric wind profiles obtained by a meteor radar system, electron density profiles from an ionosonde, and SABER temperature and OH emission profiles. These measurements will also contribute to the DEEPWAVE field project which will take place in New Zealand in June-July 2014. Data will be disseminated via a website at Boston University and the CEDAR and MADRIGAL databases. The project will be carried out in collaboration with scientists from New Zealand.