First VHF radar measurements of mesopause summer echoes at mid‐latitudes

Observations of the summer mesosphere using the stationary SOUSY VHF (53.5 MHz) radar located in the Harz mountains of Germany (52°N, 10°E) indicate the presence of very strong radar returns from heights near 85–86 km on some occasions. These echoes occur in the form of a layer with a full-power half-width of less than about 1 km, and exhibit an aspect sensitivity of about 1 dB deg−1. These features are very similar to those of the so-called Polar Mesopause Summer Echo (PMSE) known to occur at high latitudes and suggest a common production mechanism.

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