CEDAR: Establishment of a Resonance Lidar Capability at Sondrestrom, Greenland, for Studies of Metallic Structures in the Upper Atmosphere

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The PI will perform coordinated studies with the radar facility at Sondrestrom, Greenland with a new resonance lidar capability. The lidar and radar will permit new studies of metallic layers in the very high-latitude ionosphere, and complement and extend an existing observational radar program. The radar may determine the occurrence of thin metallic ion layers, as well as the detailed spatial and temporal variations in the electric fields, which play a critical role in metal-layer formation. The lidar will determine altitude profiles of neutral sodium and iron, as well as calcium ions. Watkins will investigate the relative roles of different neutral and ionized metallic structures, and the relevant physical and chemical processes associated with neutral and ion layers. Spatial and temporal structure in ion layers may be determined from antenna scanning experiments with the radar; therefore, making feasible the study of the sodium and iron variability in terms of ion layer structure and temporal behavior. The PI will use the lidar calcium-ion measurements with the radar total-ion measurements and electric field data to determine the relative effects of ion layers with different ion masses, and make detailed comparisons with model simulations of ion-layer formation.