CEDAR: A Study of the Small-Scale Structure of PMSE Over Sweden Using Coherent Radar Imaging

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Palmer, RobertATM9908616absThe investigators will study the reflectivity structure of polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) and its relation to the wind field. PMSE have been put forth as a possible precursor of global climate change due to their possible connection to anthropogenic modification of the atmosphere. The study will be conducted through a collaboration between the U. of Nebraska and the Atmospheric Research Programme of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, which operates a mesosphere-stratosphere-troposphere radar in Kiruna Sweden. The radar's six independent receiving channels allow the implementation of coherent imaging techniques to create almost instantaneous pictures of the reflectivity structure of the atmosphere. The images of PMSE structure will be compared and contrasted to the three-dimensional wind field measurements obtained using spaced antenna techniques. The vertical component of the wind field is believed to be important in the creation of PMSE due to the expansional cooling effects of rising air.