First Temperature Observations with the USU Very Large Rayleigh Lidar: An Examination of Mesopause Temperatures

Authors

Leda Sox, Utah State UniversityFollow
Vincent B. Wickwar, Utah State UniversityFollow
Joshua P. Herron, Utah State UniversityFollow
Marcus J. Bingham, Utah State University
Lance W. Petersen, University of Utah
Matthew T. Emerick, Utah State UniversityFollow

Document Type

Poster

Journal/Book Title/Conference

American Geophysical Union 2012 Fall Meeting

Publication Date

12-3-2012

Abstract

As the impetus for extended observational measurements throughout the middle atmosphere has increased1 , the limits of previous instrumentation need to be pushed. The Rayleigh lidar group at the Atmospheric Lidar Observatory (ALO) at Utah State University has pushed such limits on existing Rayleigh scatter lidar technology and, through major upgrades to the previous lidar system, has been able to gather temperature measurements in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere from approximately 70P109 km. A data campaign with the new system was conducted around the annual temperature minimum, centered on late June 2012, in this region. The temperatures from this campaign show a considerable night to night variation as well as evidence of wave activity on several nights.

Comments

Poster presented at the 2012 AGU Fall Meeting. PDF of poster available for download through link above.

Recommended Citation

Sox, L., Wickwar, V., Herron, J., Bingham, M., Petersen, L., & Emerick,, M. T. (2012, December 3). First Temperature Observations with the USU Very Large Rayleigh Lidar: An Examination of Mesopause Temperatures. Presented at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting.