Comparative statistical analysis of neutral wind in mid-latitude mesosphere / lower thermosphere based on meteor radar and Fabry—Perot interferometer data

Abstract

Studies of the upper atmosphere wind are very important both for understanding the mechanism of transformation of exposure energy into heating, movement and chemical activity of the atmosphere, and similar processes of energy transfer from lower to upper atmospheric layers. Instruments and methods for studying the wind velocity and its variations at different height levels usually complement each other in such studies. We perform a comparative analysis of information about the neutral horizontal wind over Eastern Siberia in the winter-spring period obtained by different methods. We observe some features appearing at different heights during geomagnetic storms and sudden stratospheric warming events. We propose a method for comparative statistical analysis of the neutral wind registered at different sites and show its validity. Using this method, we make a quantitative comparison of winds measured over Eastern Siberia in the winter-spring period. The wind measured by the meteor radar and Fabry-Perot interferometer at 90 km has similar direction and absolute velocity. The wind measured by the Fabry—Perot interferometer at 100 km differs from that estimated by the meteor radar only in direction. The wind measured by the Fabry—Perot interferometer at 250 km has a velocity 2.5 times faster and a direction differing by 30–40° from the wind obtained by the meteor radar.

Keywords

• meteor radar
• Fabry—Perot interferometer
• horizontal wind
• mesosphere
• lower thermosphere
• geomagnetic storm
• sudden stratospheric warming
• statistical correlation analysis