Advanced meteor radar installed at Tirupati: System details and comparison with different radars

An advanced meteor radar, viz, Sri Venkateswara University (SVU) meteor radar (SVU MR) operating at 35.25 MHz, was installed at Sri Venkateswara University (SVU), Tirupati (13.63°N, 79.4°E), India, in August 2013 for continuous observations of horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT). This manuscript describes the purpose of the meteor radar, system configuration, measurement techniques, its data products, and operating parameters, as well as a comparison of measured mean winds in the MLT with contemporary radars over the Indian region. It is installed close to the Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E) mesosphere‐stratosphere‐troposphere (MST) radar to fill the region between 85 and 100 km where this radar does not measure winds. The present radar provides additional information due to its high meteor detection rate, which results in accurate wind information from 70 to 110 km. As a first step, we made a comparison of SVU MR‐derived horizontal winds in the MLT region with those measured by similar and different (MST and MF radars) techniques over the Indian region, as well as model (horizontal wind model 2007) data sets. The comparison showed an exquisite agreement between the overlapping altitudes (82–98 km) of different radars. Zonal winds compared very well, as did the meridional winds. The observed discrepancies and limitations in the wind measurement are discussed in the light of different measuring techniques and the effects of small‐scale processes like gravity waves. This new radar is expected to play an important role in our understanding of the vertical and lateral coupling of different regions of the atmosphere that will be possible when measurements from nearby locations are combined.

[1]  J. Laštovička,et al.  Evidence of long‐term change in zonal wind in the tropical lower mesosphere: Observations and model simulations , 2013 .

[2]  S. Rao,et al.  Low-latitude mesospheric vertical winds observed using VHF radar , 2011 .

[3]  Wayne K. Hocking,et al.  A review of Mesosphere–Stratosphere–Troposphere (MST) radar developments and studies, circa 1997–2008 , 2011 .

[4]  A. Sharma,et al.  Comparative study of MLT mean winds using MF radars located at 16.8°N and 8.7°N , 2010 .

[5]  A. Patra,et al.  Tropical mesopause: Is it always close to 100 km? , 2010 .

[6]  Paul B. Hays,et al.  An empirical model of the Earth's horizontal wind fields: HWM07 , 2008 .

[7]  S. Rao,et al.  Long‐term variability of the low latitude mesospheric SAO and QBO and their relation with stratospheric QBO , 2008 .

[8]  S. Rao,et al.  Low‐latitude mesospheric mean winds observed by Gadanki mesosphere‐stratosphere‐troposphere (MST) radar and comparison with rocket, High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI), and MF radar measurements and HWM93 , 2008 .

[9]  W. Singer,et al.  A new narrow beam Doppler radar at 3 MHz for studies of the high-latitude middle atmosphere , 2008 .

[10]  K. K. Kumar,et al.  Initial results from SKiYMET meteor radar at Thumba (8.5°N, 77°E): 1. Comparison of wind measurements with MF spaced antenna radar system , 2007 .

[11]  S. Rao,et al.  Climatology of low-latitude mesospheric echo characteristics observed by Indian mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere radar , 2007 .

[12]  R. P. Lowe,et al.  Height-dependent meteor temperatures and comparisons with lidar and OH measurements , 2007 .

[13]  Masaki Tsutsumi,et al.  Meteor radar response function: Application to the interpretation of meteor backscatter at medium frequency , 2004 .

[14]  David A. Holdsworth,et al.  Buckland Park all‐sky interferometric meteor radar , 2004 .

[15]  M. A. Cervera,et al.  The meteor radar response function: Theory and application to narrow beam MST radar , 2004 .

[16]  E. Remsberg,et al.  Variability of diurnal tides and planetary waves during November 1978-May 1979 , 2004 .

[17]  M. Alexander,et al.  Gravity wave dynamics and effects in the middle atmosphere , 2003 .

[18]  S. Franke,et al.  Seasonal variations of the semi-diurnal and diurnal tides in the MLT: multi-year MF radar observations from 2–70° N, modelled tides (GSWM, CMAM) , 2002 .

[19]  H. Takahashi,et al.  First measurement of atmospheric density and pressure by meteor diffusion coefficient and airglow OH temperature in the mesopause region , 2002 .

[20]  S. Thulasiraman,et al.  Mean winds observed with Indian MST radar over tropical mesosphere and comparison with various techniques , 2001 .

[21]  Wayne K. Hocking,et al.  Real-time determination of meteor-related parameters utilizing modern digital technology , 2001 .

[22]  S. Franke,et al.  Seasonal variations of the semi-diurnal and diurnal tides in the MLT: multi-year MF radar observations from 2 to 70°N, and the GSWM tidal model , 1999 .

[23]  S. Gurubaran,et al.  Long‐term variability in the mesospheric tidal winds observed by MF Radar over Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E) , 1999 .

[24]  S. Franke,et al.  Gravity wave spectra, directions and wave interactions: Global MLT-MFR network , 1999 .

[25]  G. Cevolani.  Modern radar techniques and the hazard of meteoroids to space platforms , 1998 .

[26]  S. Gurubaran,et al.  Seasonal variabilities of low-latitude mesospheric winds , 1998 .

[27]  James Jones,et al.  An improved interferometer design for use with meteor radars , 1998 .

[28]  Q. Zhan,et al.  Gravity wave spectra and direction statistics for the mesosphere as observed by MF radars in the Canadian Prairies (49°N–52°N) and at Tromsø (69°N) , 1997 .

[29]  Takuji Nakamura,et al.  Mesospheric gravity waves at Saskatoon (52°N), Kyoto (35°N), and Adelaide (35°S) , 1996 .

[30]  P. Balamuralidhar,et al.  Indian MST radar 1. System description and sample vector wind measurements in ST mode , 1995 .

[31]  I. Reid,et al.  Comparison of simultaneous wind measurements using colocated VHF meteor radar and MF spaced antenna radar systems , 1995 .

[32]  David A. Holdsworth,et al.  A simple model of atmospheric radar backscatter: Description and application to the full correlation analysis of spaced antenna data , 1995 .

[33]  T. Thayaparan,et al.  Middle atmospheric winds and tides over London, Canada (43°N, 81°W) during 1992–1993 , 1995 .

[34]  A. Manson,et al.  Climatological monthly characteristics of middle atmosphere gravity waves (10 min-10 h) during 1979–1993 at Saskatoon , 1995 .

[35]  T. Thayaparan,et al.  Observational evidence of tidal/gravity wave interactions using the UWO 2 MHz radar , 1995 .

[36]  K. Fricke,et al.  Rayleigh lidar detection of aerosol echoes from noctilucent cloud altitudes at the Arctic Circle , 1995 .

[37]  A. Manson,et al.  Characteristics of gravity waves (10 min‐6 hours) at Saskatoon (52°N, 107°W): Observations by the phase coherent medium frequency radar , 1993 .

[38]  R. Vincent,et al.  Dynamics of the equatorial mesosphere: First results with a new generation partial reflection radar , 1991 .

[39]  David C. Fritts,et al.  A Climatology of Gravity Wave Motions in the Mesopause Region at Adelaide, Australia , 1987 .

[40]  A. Manson,et al.  Observations of mesospheric wind velocities: 1. Gravity wave horizontal scales and phase velocities determined from spaced wind observations , 1985 .

[41]  A. Manson,et al.  Observations of mesospheric wind velocities: 2. Cross sections of power spectral density for 48–8 hours, 8–1 hours, and 1 hour to 10 min over 60–110 km for 1981 , 1985 .

[42]  R. Vincent.  MF/HF radar measurements of the dynamics of the mesopause region - A review , 1984 .

[43]  A. Manson,et al.  Observations of mesospheric wind velocities 2 , 1981 .

[44]  A. Skellett.  The Effect of Meteors on Radio Transmission Through the Kennelly-Heaviside Layer , 1931 .

[45]  Hantaro Nagaoka,et al.  Possibility of the Radio Transmission being disturbed by Meteoric Showers , 1929 .