Austral Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics

该项目的核心是继续全年运行和校准位于新西兰坎特伯雷大学约翰山天文台(44度S)的高分辨率法布里-珀罗光谱仪，过去14年来，国际和平研究所一直在进行这项工作。这些观测结果将为得出具有统计意义的中层和低热层气候学奠定基础，其中包括中纬度南半球大气的风和温度。约翰山(南半球)和弗里茨峰(北半球)的风和温度气候学的比较将被用来研究大气动力学行为的半球间差异。作为这一项目的一部分，将探索的其他目标包括：在约翰山及其附近用光学技术和流星和MF雷达技术同时进行普通体积风观测的比较；将雷达和光学技术结合起来以确定和描述气辉高度相关性；以及与计划在约翰山进行的光学成像仪调查进行比较，以调查最近在观测中发现的短周期风和温度振荡。计划中的活动将作为已建立的美新国际合作项目的一部分进行。此外，通过在南极大气学联合会主持下的国际合作和协作，新西兰(约翰山，伯德林斯平原)的观测将与澳大利亚(阿德莱德，贝弗里奇)、阿根廷(埃尔莱昂西托，布宜诺斯艾利斯)和南极洲(斯科特基地，到达高地、莫森、戴维斯、南极)的观测相结合，以扩大行星尺度和潮汐波活动的气候学研究，以涵盖中纬度和高纬度南半球的大部分地区。还建立了与理论建模科学家的合作，以进一步解释和调查观测结果的影响。研究生和本科生将参加计划中的研究计划的观察和数据分析部分。对南半球纬度大气行为的了解是全面了解全球气候变化及其对人类的影响的重要组成部分。

The centerpiece of this project is the continuation of year-round operations and calibration of a high resolution Fabry-Perot spectrometer at the University of Canterbury's Mount John Astronomical Observatory, NZ (44 deg S) that the PI has been conducting for the last 14 years. These observations will lay the foundation for the derivation of a statistically meaningful long-term mesospheric and lower thermospheric climatology including both winds and temperatures for the Mid-latitude Southern hemisphere atmosphere. Comparison between Mount John (southern hemisphere) and Fritz Peak (northern hemisphere) wind and temperature climatologies will be used to investigate inter-hemispherical differences in atmospheric dynamical behavior. Additional objectives that will be explored as part of this project include: comparison between simultaneous common volume observations of winds with the optical technique and both meteor and MF radar techniques at and near Mount John; combining radar and optical techniques to determine and characterize airglow altitude dependencies; and comparison with planned optical imager investigations at Mount John to investigate short-periodicity wind and temperature oscillations that have recently been discovered in the observations. The planned activities will be conducted as part of an established U.S.-New Zealand international cooperative project. In addition, through international cooperation and collaboration under the aegis of the Antarctic Aeronomy Consortium the observations in New Zealand (Mount John, Birdlings Flat) will be combined with observations in Australia (Adelaide, Beveridge), Argentina (El Leoncito, Buenos Aires) and Antarctica (Scott Base, Arrival Heights, Mawson, Davis, South Pole) to extend the climatological studies of planetary-scale and tidal wave activity to cover large fractions of both the midlatitude and high-latitude Southern Hemisphere. Collaboration with a theoretical modeling scientist to further interpret and investigate the implications of the observational findings has also been established. Graduate and undergraduate students will participate both in the observational and data analysis parts of the planned research program. Knowledge of atmospheric behavior at Southern Hemisphere latitudes is an important ingredient in fully understanding Global Climate Change and its human implications.