Austral Mid-Latitude Atmospheric Dynamics

该项目的核心是继续在新西兰坎特伯雷大学约翰山天文台（南纬44度）全年运行和校准高分辨率法布里-珀罗光谱仪，PI在过去14年中一直在进行该项目。 这些观测结果将为推导中纬度南半球大气的具有统计意义的长期中层和低热层气候学（包括风和温度）奠定基础。 约翰山（南半球）和弗里茨峰（北方）风和温度气候学之间的比较将被用来研究大气动力学行为的半球间差异。 作为该项目的一部分，将探讨的其他目标包括：在约翰山及其附近用光学技术和流星及中频雷达技术对风的同时共同体积观测进行比较;将雷达和光学技术相结合，以确定气辉高度依赖性并说明其特点;并与计划在约翰山进行的光学成像仪调查进行比较，以调查短-最近在观测中发现的周期性风和温度振荡。 计划中的活动将作为既定的美国-新西兰国际合作项目。 此外，通过南极大气层物理学联合会主持下的国际合作与协作，（约翰山，鸟鸣平原）将与澳大利亚的观测相结合（阿德莱德，贝弗里奇），阿根廷（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），以扩大行星尺度和潮汐波活动的气候学研究，以涵盖南半球中纬度和高纬度的大部分地区。还与一位理论建模科学家合作，进一步解释和研究观察结果的影响。 研究生和本科生将参加计划研究计划的观察和数据分析部分。 了解南半球纬度的大气行为是充分理解全球气候变化及其对人类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.