Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Observation And Modeling Of Gravity Wave Propagation Through Reflection And Critical Layers Above Andes Lidar Observatory At Cerro Pachón, Chile, Bing Cao, Christopher J. Heale, Yafang Guo, Alan Z. Liu, Jonathan B. Snively

Jonathan B. Snively

A complex gravity wave event was observed from 04:30 to 08:10 UTC on 16 January 2015 by a narrow-band sodium lidar and an all-sky airglow imager located at Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) in Cerro Pachón (30.25∘S, 70.73∘W), Chile. The gravity wave packet had a period of 18–35 min and a horizontal wavelength of about 40–50 km. Strong enhancements of the vertical wind perturbation, exceeding10 m s−1, were found at ∼90 km and ∼103 km, consistent with nearly evanescent wave behavior near a reflection layer. A reduction in vertical wavelength was found as the phase speed approached the background wind speed …

The First Ten Months Of Investigation Of Gravity Waves And Temperature Variability Over The Andes, Jonathan Pugmire, Neal Criddle, Michael J. Taylor, P. D. Pautet, Yucheng Zhao

Jonathan Pugmire

The Andes region is an excellent natural laboratory for investigating gravity wave influences on the Upper Mesospheric and Lower Thermospheric (MLT) dynamics. The instrument suite that comprised the very successful Maui-MALT program was recently re-located to a new Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO) located at Cerro Pachon, Chile to obtain in-depth seasonal measurements of MLT dynamics over the Andes mountains. As part of the instrument set the Utah State University CEDAR Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (MTM) has operated continuously since August 2009 measuring the near infrared OH(6,2) band and the O2(0,1) Atmospheric band intensity and temperature perturbations. This poster focuses on an …

Inferring The Global Cosmic Dust Influx To The Earth’S Atmosphere From Lidar Observations Of The Vertical Flux Of Mesospheric Na, Chester S. Gardner, Alan Z. Liu, Dan Marsh, Wuhu Feng, John Plane

Alan Z Liu

Satellite And Ground-Based Measurements Of Mesospheric Temperature Variability Over Cerro Pachon, Chile (30.3° S), Jonathan R. Pugmire, Michael J. Taylor, Yucheng Zhao, P Dominique Pautet, James M. Russell Iii

Jonathan Pugmire

Observations of mesospheric OH (6,2) rotational temperatures by the Utah State University Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (MTM) located at the Andes Lidar Observatory, Cerro Pachon, Chile (30.3° S, 70.7° W) reveal a large range of nightly variations induced by atmospheric gravity waves and tides, as well as strong seasonal oscillations. This study investigates MTM temperature variability over the past 4 years comprising over 800 nights of high-quality data and compares the results with MTM measurements from Maui, Hawaii (2001-2005) and coincident mesospheric temperature measurement by the SABER instrument on the NASA TIMED satellite.

Observations Of Persistent Leonid Meteor Trails 3. The ‘‘Glowworm’’, Jack D. Drummond, Brent W. Grime, Chester S. Gardner, Alan Z. Liu, Xinzhao Chu, Michael C. Kelley, Craig Kruschwitz, Timothy J. Kane

Alan Z Liu

A spectacular, well-observed Leonid meteor of visual magnitude -14.3 appeared on 17 November 1998 and left a lingering trail, dubbed the Glowworm, that was well studied. From a location on Kirtland Air Force Base, near Albuquerque, New Mexico, we obtained CCD images of the trail from 94 to 203 s after the meteor and recorded a video with an intensified camera for even longer. From information obtained with a sodium lidar half an hour after the meteor, we have determined that a gravity wave with a vertical wavelength of 2.4 km was responsible for the right-angled appearance of the trail. …

High Frequency Atmospheric Gravity Wave Damping In The Mesosphere, G. R. Swenson, Alan Z. Liu, F. Li, J. Tang

Alan Z Liu

Correlative measurements of temperature and winds by Na lidar and brightness in OH and O2 Atmospheric band airglow have been made at Albuquerque, NM and Maui, HI for a study of high frequency (period less than 30 minutes) Atmospheric Gravity Waves. Wave studies from four nights have been made and the correlative information describes the intrinsic wave properties with altitude, their damping characteristics, and resulting accelerations to the large scale circulation in the 85-100 km altitude region. Generally, saturated to super-saturated conditions were observed below 95 km. Above this altitude, they were less saturated to freely propagating.

Tomex: Mesospheric And Lower Thermospheric Diffusivities And Instability Layers, R. L. Bishop, M. F. Larsen, J. H. Hecht, Alan Z. Liu, C. S. Gardner

Alan Z Liu

The Turbulent Oxygen Mixing Experiment (TOMEX), which was carried out at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico on 26 October 2000, included a rocketborne trimethyl aluminum (TMA) chemical tracer experiment. The subsequent TMA trails provided detailed information about the horizontal neutral wind, turbulence, and diffusivity properties of the atmosphere between approximately 85 and 140 km altitude. Measurements with the University of Illinois Na wind/temperature lidar located at the Starfire Optical Range, NM, provided a detailed time history of the stability properties between 85 and 105-km altitude, including high-resolution wind and temperature measurements prior to and during the chemical tracer …

Observations Of Mesospheric Temperature Variability Over The Andes, Jonathan R. Pugmire, Michael J. Taylor, Yucheng Zhao, P Dominique Pautet, James M. Russell Iii

Jonathan Pugmire

Observations of mesospheric OH(6,2) rotational temperatures by the Utah State University Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (MTM) located at the Andes Lidar Observatory, Cerro Pachon, Chile (30.3°S, 70.7°S) reveal a large range of nightly variations induced by atmospheric gravity waves and tides, as well as strong seasonal oscillations. This study investigates MTM temperature variability over the past 3.5 years comprising over 700 nights of high-quality data and compares the results with Maui-MALT, Hawaii MTM (2001-2005) measurements and coincident mesospheric temperature measurement by SABER on the NASA TIMED satellite.

Investigating Mesospheric Gravity Wave Dynamics And Temperature Variability Over The Andes, Jonathan R. Pugmire, Michael J. Taylor

Jonathan Pugmire

Observations of mesospheric OH(6,2) temperatures by the Utah State University Mesospheric Temperature Mapper located at Cerro Pachon, Chile (30.3°S, 70.7°S) reveal a large range of nightly variations induced by atmospheric gravity waves and tides, as well as strong seasonal oscillations. Comparative studies with other data sets including the satellite-borne SABER instrument show good agreement on nightly, as well as seasonal, temperature measurements.

Mesosphereic Temperature Variability And Seasonal Characteristics Over The Andes, Jonathan R. Pugmire, Yucheng Zhao, Michael J. Taylor, Dominique Pautet

Jonathan Pugmire

The Utah State University CEDAR Mesospheric Temperature Mapper (MTM) is a high-quality CCD imager capable of remote sensing faint optical emissions from the night sky to determine mesospheric temperature and its variability at an altitude of ~87 km. The MTM was operated at the new Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO)located at Cerro Pachon, Chile (30.2° S, 70.7° W) since August 2009 to investigate the seasonal characteristic of the mesopause at mid-latitudes. Measurement were made alongside a powerful lidar capable of height sounding the mesosphere. In this study, the MTM data have been analyzed to determine night to night variability and seasonal …