CEDAR: Thermospheric Coupling with the Lower Atmosphere Using Lidar and CEDAR Instrument Cluster at Millstone Hill

该项目完成了Millstone Hill天文台的瑞利-多普勒激光雷达系统的开发，并在现有仪器组的一部分中运行。 该仪器组包括激光雷达系统、非相干散射雷达、法布里-珀罗干涉仪、流星风雷达和光学层析成像仪器。 这些数据增进了对中层和低热层之间过渡高度潮汐变化来源的了解。 激光雷达仪器使用麻省理工学院林肯实验室Firepond直径1.2米的全可操纵望远镜，因为该望远镜的可操纵性允许在夜间进行高达86公里的全矢量风测量，并有可能在白天观测较低的高度。 该仪器组测量密度，温度，和风的高分辨率在大约整个海拔范围从30至130公里，从而大大扩展到源区域和重要的潮汐传播路径，潮汐振幅调制当前的观测。 同时多普勒风和温度数据收集的白天和夜晚澄清的作用，重力波（GW）耗散的潮汐结构的变化作出贡献。 这些测量也检查预期的发展中间层逆温层和较低的中间层纬向风急流，可能都是由重力波耗散过程造成的强迫之间的相关性。

This project completes development of a Rayleigh-Doppler lidar system at the Millstone Hill Observatory, and operates in part of an existing instrument cluster. The instrument cluster includes the lidar system, an incoherent scatter radar, a Fabry-Perot interferometer, a meteor wind radar, and an optical tomographic imaging instrument. The data improves understanding of sources of tidal variability in the altitude of transition between the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The lidar instrument uses the MIT Lincoln Laboratory Firepond 1.2 meter diameter, fully-steerable telescope, as the telescope's steerability allows full vector wind measurements up to 86 km at night, with a potential for daytime observations to lower altitudes. The instrument cluster measures density, temperature, and winds with high resolution over roughly the entire altitude range from about 30 to 130 km, thus greatly extending current observations into the source region and into the important tidal propagation path, where the tidal amplitudes are modulated. Simultaneous Doppler wind and temperature data collected for both day and night clarifies the role that gravity wave (GW) dissipation has in contributing to the variability of tidal structure. These measurements are also examined for the expected correlation between the developing mesosphere temperature inversion layer and the forcing of the lower mesosphere zonal wind jet that may both be caused by gravity wave dissipation processes.