Dynamics and Meteor Studies Using a Novel Radar at a Critical Southern Latitude

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A new meteor radar with unprecedented sensitivity is established at Usuahia, Argentina, the southernmost municipality in the world. This location is beneath the most dynamic tidal and gravity wave activity field in the middle atmosphere, according to models, but present observation capability does not exist. Placement of the meteor radar at Usuahia thereby provides a key link in chain of middle-atmosphere monitoring stations extending from the Arctic to the Antarctic, through the Americas. Inter-hemispheric field-aligned dynamic studies are also made possible because conjugate magnetic mapping occurs between Usuahia and instrumented sites at Juliusruh, Germany, Obninsk, Russia, and Saskatoon, Canada. The meteor radar system transmitting nominally at 33 MHz will achieve at least 48 kW peak power and may achieve 96 kW peak power.