This thesis presents the results from investigations into various features of the dynamics of the middle atmosphere. Wind measurements from the meteor radar on Ascension Island and temperatures measured by the Aura MLS instrument are used to characterise Ultra-Fast Kelvin Waves (UFKW) in the MLT-region. Rainfall rates from TRMM are used as a proxy for latent heat release in an investigation of the excitation of UFKW, and results are compared with predictions of the Kyushu-GCM. Amplitudes and vertical wavelengths are determined, as are the accelerations resulting from wave dissipation. Intra-seasonal oscillations (ISOs) are observed in the wave amplitudes and accelerations, and oscillations with the same periods are observed in the rainfall and MLT-region winds, suggesting that UFKW play a role in carrying the tropospheric ISOs to higher regions. The seasonal and interannual variability of the tidal field over Ascension Island is investigated. Amplitudes, phases and vertical wavelengths of the diurnal and semidiurnal tides are reported on. Our observations of tidal parameters are compared with the predictions of the extended Canadian Middle Atmosphere Model (eCMAM) and the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). Correlations between tidal amplitudes, the stratospheric Quasi-Biennial Oscillation (QBO) and the El Nin ̃o Southern Oscillation (ENSO) are discussed. The Hocking (2005) method is adapted to recover monthly-mean gravity-wave momentum fluxes and wind variances either side of the Drake passage gravity-wave hotspot. The ability of the method to recover momentum fluxes over each radar are tested by sampling a series of specified (known) wave fields of increasing complexity with the actual meteor distributions, and comparing the recovered momentum fluxes with the specified values. The analysis is then applied to the real data to obtain climatologies of the MLT-region variances and momentum fluxes for a composite year of the 2008 to 2012 data.

Meteor radar observations of mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) daily temperatures have been performed at Collm, Germany since August 2004. The data have been analyzed with respect to long-period oscillations at time scales of 2–30 days. The results reveal that oscillations with periods of up to 6 days are more frequently observed during summer, while those with longer periods have larger amplitudes during winter. The oscillations may be considered as the signature of planetary waves. The results are compared with analyses from radar wind measurements. Moreover, the temperature oscillations show considerable year-to-year variability. In particular, amplitudes of the quasi 5-day oscillation have increased during the last decade, and the quasi 10-day oscillations are larger if the equatorial stratospheric winds are eastward.

This thesis presents observations of the dynamical features of the stratosphere, mesosphere and lower thermosphere. These are made from various observational techniques and model comparisons. A focus of the work is the two-day wave at high latitudes in the MLT region. This has revealed significant wave amplitudes in both summer and winter. However, these waves are shown to have very different origins. Using satellite data, the summertime wave is found to be the classic quasi-two-day wave which maximises at mid-latitudes in the MLT region. The wintertime wave is found to be a mesospheric manifestation of an eastward-propagating wave originating in the stratosphere and likely generated by barotropic and baroclinic instabilities in the polar night jet. The horizontal winds from Meteor and MF radars have been used to measure and produce climatologies of the Lunar M2 tide at Esrange in the Arctic (68°N), Rothera and Davis in the Antarctic (68°S), Castle Eaton at mid-latitude (52°N) and Ascension Island at Equatorial latitudes (8°S). These observations present the longest period of lunar semi-diurnal tidal observations in the MLT region to date, with a 16-year dataset from the UK meteor radar. Comparisons with the Vial and Forbes (1994) lunar tidal model are also made which reveal generally good agreement. Non-migrating lunar tides have been investigated. This uses lunar tidal results from equatorial stations, including the Ascension Island (8°S) meteor radar. Also lunar tidal results from the Rothera meteor wind radar (68°S, 68°W) and the Davis MF radar (68°S, 78°E) are considered. Both of these stations are on the edge of the Antarctic continent. It is demonstrated that there are often consistent tidal phase offsets between similar latitude stations. This suggests that non-migrating modes are likely to be present in the lunar semi-diurnal tidal structure and have significant amplitudes.

Gravity waves play a fundamental role in driving the large-scale circulation of the atmosphere. They are influenced both by the variation in their sources and the filtering effects of the winds they encounter as they ascend through the atmosphere. In this thesis we present new evidence that gravity waves play a key role in coupling the troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere. In particular, we examine the connection of gravity waves to two important large-scale oscillations that occur in the atmosphere, namely the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) in the troposphere and the Mesospheric Semi-Annual Oscillation (MSAO). We present the first ever demonstration that the MJO acts to modulate the global field of gravity waves ascending into the tropical stratosphere. We discover a significant correlation with the MJO zonal-wind anomalies and so suggest that the MJO modulates the stratospheric gravity-wave field through a critical-level wave-filtering mechanism. Strong evidence for this mechanism is provided by consideration of the winds encountered by ascending waves. The Ascension Island meteor radar is used for the first time to measure momentum fluxes over the Island. These measurements are then used to investigate the role of gravity-wave in driving a dramatic and anomalous wind event that was observed to occur during the first westward phase of the MSAO in 2002. Gravity waves are shown to play an important role in driving this event, but the observations presented here also suggest that the current theory of the mechanism describing these anomalous mesospheric wind events is not valid. Both of these studies highlight the critical importance of gravity waves to the dynamics of the atmosphere and highlight the need for further work to truly understand these waves, their processes and their variability.

No description available.

This thesis describes the development, modification and refinement of a high-powered hybrid Stratospheric Tropospheric (ST)/meteor radar at the University of Adelaide’s Buckland Park (BP) field station. This thesis also describes the process of statistically comparing results obtained from multiple co-located independent measurement sources. Also included are statistical comparisons made between meteor radars at BP,Darwin, Northern Territory, and Davis Station, Antarctica, with other independent sources of measurement. Previous meteor radar systems have generally been low powered (∼8 kW peak) and as such could only afford low count rates at frequencies of the order of 50 MHz. While it has been shown that the echo detection rate is inversely proportional to frequency to the power of 1.5, the use of lower VHF frequencies within Australia is restricted by government regulations. As such, this has lead to the development of a high powered meteor radar system at 55 MHz which has served to facilitate higher echo rates at this frequency. The aim of improving the echo rate is to improve the statistical accuracy of results generated by the meteor technique. Also presented are descriptions of the meteor radar systems used to provide the data for this study and the basic principles of the meteor technique. Basic descriptions of the other systems and the techniques used to provide data for comparison are also presented. Two key components in the development of the high-powered meteor system are the high-powered all-sky crossed-dipole transmit antenna and the high-powered 1:2 splitter-combiner required to drive the antenna. The antenna was designed using standard equations for Yagi-Uda antenna design found in literature and modeled using the EZNEC modeling programe. After successful modeling, the antenna was prototyped and refined into a low powered version to investigate the antenna’s performance characteristics. Once the performance of the antenna was verified, the process of upgrading the antenna to handle the full output power from a VTX transmitter was performed. This upgrade also spawned the design and development of the highpowered 1:2 splitter-combiner which would be used to feed the high-powered version of the antenna. The successful operation of the high-powered system over several periods of observation has allowed for a more in-depth investigation into the statistical reliability of the meteor technique. Along with the comparison of standard atmospheric parameters, i.e. temperatures and wind velocity, the high-powered system has allowed for the verification of the relationship between echo rate and radar parameters found by McKinley, which is frequently referred to in many papers dealing with meteor observations. Along with the comparisons made with the results from the high-powered meteor radar system at BP, comparisons of atmospheric parameters derived from meteor observations and other techniques were made at Davis Station and Darwin. Of particular interest is the unique comparison of atmospheric winds made at Davis between two independent meteor radar systems and a Medium Frequency (MF) radar. Previous comparison studies have only enjoyed the benefit of having two independent sources of measurement to compare and as such have not allowed for a unique solution to be obtained for the uncertainties of the techniques using the method of Hocking et al. [2001]. Davis Station is unique in that it has two independent meteor radars in addition to a MF radar. This has enabled for the reduction in the number of degrees of freedom in the statistical comparison process, and as such has allowed for unique solutions to be determined for the uncertainties when comparing two independent techniques; i.e. meteor and MF wind comparisons. Atmospheric temperatures in the Mesospheric and Lower Thermospheric (MLT) region were determined through the use of meteor diffusion coefficients and derived atmospheric pressure models at Davis Station, BP and Darwin. Comparisons are made between the meteor technique and other co-located independent measurements. These include; airglow, satellite and falling sphere measurements at Davis Station, airglow and two independent satellite measurements at BP and two independent satellite observations at Darwin. This thesis as a whole demonstrates the successful operation of the highpowered ST/meteor hybrid radar at BP. It also demonstrates the successful comparisons of MLT winds and temperatures made between meteor radar and other independent sources of MLT measurements. The validation of using the high-powered meteor radar at BP coupled with the successful comparison of atmospheric parameters derived using the meteor technique and other forms of MLT observations serves to re-affirm the statistical accuracy and benefit of the meteor technique in observations of the MLT region. / http://proxy.library.adelaide.edu.au/login?url= http://library.adelaide.edu.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=1474902 / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Chemistry and Physics, 2010

Submitted by Jean Medeiros (jeanletras@uepb.edu.br) on 2017-07-27T11:59:51Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Chayenne Edna da Silva Rodrigues.pdf: 17429390 bytes, checksum: 0bdef27d89dbb3d103280bf8a69a7fd2 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-27T11:59:51Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Chayenne Edna da Silva Rodrigues.pdf: 17429390 bytes, checksum: 0bdef27d89dbb3d103280bf8a69a7fd2 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / In this study, the winds obtained by meteor radar at São João do Cariri (7.4 S, 35 W) during 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 years, and at Cachoeira Paulista (22.7 S, 45.0 W) during 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2008, have been used to characterize the dynamics of the mesosphere region over the two sites during the sudden stratospheric warming events on polar stratosphere in the Northern Hemisphere. The wind measurements were subjected to a wavelet spectrum analysis to identify a presence of periodic oscillations. Wave amplitudes were obtained through harmonic analysis by least squares fitting and the 2-day wave momentum fluxes have been estimated from the wind perturbations. The values of the 2-day wave amplitudes and the respective zonal momentum fluxes observed over C. Paulista were higher in the 2003, 2004 and 2006 summers, and over S. J. do Cariri in 2006 summer, when events of SSW Major have occurred. The mean wind behavior it is indicative that the MLT region, during the summer, have been affected by 2-day wave, however, it was not possible to identify pattern associated with the effects of the SSW events on dynamic behavior of the MLT region over two sites. From analyzes, the 2-day wave intensification and their momentum fluxes during years in which SSWs were major, provide additional evidence to stratospheric jet instabilities, which is the main 2-day wave source mechanism in the summer hemisphere. / Nesta pesquisa, estimativas do campo de velocidade dos ventos obtidas por radar meteórico em São João do Cariri (7,4 S, 35 O), durante os anos de 2005, 2006, 2007 e 2008, e em Cachoeira Paulista (22,7 S, 45,0 O), durante os anos de 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 e 2008, foram usadas para caracterizar a dinâmica da região da mesosfera sobre ambas as localidades durante eventos de aquecimento abrupto da estratosfera polar do hemisfério norte. As medidas de vento foram submetidas a análise de espectro de ondaletas para identificar a presença de oscilações periódicas. As amplitudes da s ondas foram obtidas através análise harmônica por ajuste de mínimos quadrados e os fluxos de momentum da onda de 2 dias foram estimados a partir das perturbações. Os valores das amplitudes da onda de 2 dias e dos respectivos fluxos de momentum zonais observados em C. Paulista foram maiores nos verões de 2003, 2004 e 2006, e em S. J. do Cariri em 2006, quando ocorreram eventos de SSW fortes. O comportamento do vento médio demostra que a dinâmica da região MLT durante o verão é impactada pela onda de 2 dias, contudo, não foi possível identificar padrão associado a efeitos dos eventos de SSW com o comportamento dinâmico da região MLT sobre as duas localidades, a partir dessas análises. A intensificação da onda de 2 dias e dos fluxos de momentum durante os anos em que ocorreram SSW fortes fornecem indícios de forçamento adicional para instabilidade do jato estratosférico, que é o principal mecanismo de excitação da onda no hemisfério de verão.

Meteor radar observations of mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) daily temperatures have been performed at Collm, Germany since August 2004. The data have been analyzed with respect to long-period oscillations at time scales of 2–30 days. The results reveal that oscillations with periods of up to 6 days are more frequently observed during summer, while those with longer periods have larger amplitudes during winter. The oscillations may be considered as the signature of planetary waves. The results are compared with analyses from radar wind measurements. Moreover, the temperature oscillations show considerable year-to-year variability. In particular, amplitudes of the quasi 5-day oscillation have increased during the last decade, and the quasi 10-day oscillations are larger if the equatorial stratospheric winds are eastward.

Meteore, die in die Atmosphäre eindringen, bilden bei hohen Oberflächentemperaturen, die durch Kollisionen mit der umgebenden Luft hervorgerufen werden, einen mehrere Kilometer langen Plasmaschweif aus. An diesem Schweif werden ausgesandte Radarwellen reflektiert und zurückgestreut. Dies führt zu einem charakteristischen Schwingungsverhalten, auch Fresnel Zonen genannt, am Empfänger. Die Überlagerung dieser Wellen ist verantwortlich für die typische Signalform eines Meteors, mit dem abrupten Anstieg und dem exponentiellen Abfall für \'underdense\' Meteore. Mit Hilfe einer Simulation wird der theoretische Zusammenhang zwischen Geschwindigkeit und Signalverlauf demonstriert. Des weiteren wird gezeigt, das die Methode von Baggaley et al. [1997] zur Bestimmung von Meteoreintrittsgeschwindigkeiten auch auf ein Radarinterferometer (SKiYMET) anwendbar ist. Abschliessend werden die gewonnen Ergebnisse mit einem anderen Verfahren sowie der Literatur verglichen. / Meteors, penetrating the earths atmosphere, creating at high surface temperatures, which are caused by collisions with the surrounding air molecules, a several kilometer long plasma trail. The ionized plasma backscatters transmitted radar waves. This leads to characteristic oscillations, called Fresnel zones, at the receiver. The interference of these waves entails the typical signal shape of a underdense meteor with the sudden rise of the signal and the exponential decay. By means of a simulation the theoretical connection between velocity and signal shape is demonstrated. Furthermore it is presented, that the method from Baggaley et al. [1997] for determination of meteor entry velocities is applicable for a radar interferometer (SKiYMET). Finally the results are compared to other radar methods on similar equipment and to other experiments.

Submitted by Jean Medeiros (jeanletras@uepb.edu.br) on 2018-06-15T14:03:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Luciana Rodrigues de Araújo.pdf: 65021055 bytes, checksum: ca14397fd5976fb51f30eb8b9769c237 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Secta BC (secta.csu.bc@uepb.edu.br) on 2018-06-18T18:12:06Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Luciana Rodrigues de Araújo.pdf: 65021055 bytes, checksum: ca14397fd5976fb51f30eb8b9769c237 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-18T18:12:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 PDF - Luciana Rodrigues de Araújo.pdf: 65021055 bytes, checksum: ca14397fd5976fb51f30eb8b9769c237 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-17 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / Wind data obtained between 1999 and 2016 from measuments by meteor radar at Cachoeira Paulista (22.7°S, 45.0°W), Brazil, were used to investigate the behavior of the dynamics on upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere region, the interannual variability in the winds, in the diurnal tide and 2-day wave amplitudes and the possible causes. The results show that zonal wind is characterized by a semiannual variation below 90 km and annual above, while the meridional wind exhibits an annual cycle at all altitudes. Monthly winds did not show quasi-biennial variation (QBO), however the seasonal winds in the zonal direction observed during the summer and fall show QBO variations type in altitudes below 90 km. The results also suggest that the zonal and meridional winds are intensified during the years of solar maximum, especially in the summer and winter seasons. The monthly amplitudes of diurnal tide show an annual variation, in which the amplitudes are greater during the eastward phase of QBO at 30 hPa. The spectrum obtained from the deseasonalized amplitudes shows a 26 months peak in the meridional component, which may to be associated with stratospheric QBO phase. The modulation of the diurnal tide amplitude by QBO shows a quasi ten-year variation, and is stronger for the solar cycle maximum. The amplitude of the 2-day wave exhibit interannual variability, however, do not shows to be affected by the QBO phase during the summer season. The amplitudes of the 2-day show interannual variability, but, only in winter it is affected by the QBO phase. Good agreement between the variation of the amplitude of the 2-day wave for meridional wind and the solar radio flux was observed for most of the summers with a significant correlation, suggesting a possible wave modulation by the 11-year solar cycle. / Dados de ventos obtidos entre 1999 e 2016 a partir de medidas por radar meteórico em Cachoeira Paulista (22,7°S, 45,0°O), Brasil, foram utilizados para investigar o comportamento da dinâmica da região da alta mesosfera e baixa termosfera, a variabilidade interanual dos ventos, das amplitudes da maré diurna e da onda de 2 dias e as possíveis causas. Os resultados mostram que o vento zonal é caracterizado por uma variação semianual abaixo de 90 km e anual acima, enquanto o vento meridional exibe um ciclo anual em todas as alturas. Os ventos mensais não mostraram variação quase bienal (QBO), contudo os ventos sazonais na direção zonal observados durante o verão e o outono mostram variações tipo QBO nas alturas abaixo de 90 km. Os resultados sugerem ainda que os ventos zonal e meridional são intensificados durante os anos de máxima atividade solar, principalmente nas estações de verão e inverno. As amplitudes mensais da maré diurna exibem variação interanual, em que as amplitudes são maiores durante a fase para leste da QBO em 30 hPa. O espectro obtido a partir das amplitudes dessazonalizadas mostra um pico próximo de 26 meses na componente meridional, o qual pode estar associado à fase da QBO estratosférica. A modulação da amplitude da maré diurna pela QBO mostra uma variação quase decenal, e é mais forte durante o máximo do ciclo solar. As amplitudes da onda de 2 dias exibem variabilidade interanual para ambas as componentes, contudo, apenas no inverno mostra ser afetada pela fase da QBO. Boa concordância entre a variação da amplitude meridional da onda de 2 dias e o fluxo de rádio solar foi observada para a maioria dos verões com correlação significativa, sugerindo uma possível modulação da onda pelo ciclo solar de 11 anos.