Date of Award:
5-2004
Document Type:
Thesis
Degree Name:
Master of Science (MS)
Department:
Physics
Committee Chair(s)
Vincent B. Wickwar
Committee
Vincent B. Wickwar
Abstract
A Rayleigh-scatter lidar has been in operation at Utah State University (41. 7° N, 111.8 ° W) starting in September 1993 until the present (October 2003). The return profiles from the atmosphere have been analyzed to provide temperature measurements of the middle atmosphere from 45 to 90 km. Various methods of averaging were used to construct a temperature climatology of the region based on these observations. The data analysis algorithm has been critically analyzed to find possible sources of error, and has been compared to an independently derived technique. The resulting temperatures have been compared to other mid-latitude lidars with good agreement. Comparisons were made with temperatures from other ground-based instruments at Bear Lake Observatory. Additional comparisons were carried out with two satellite-based instruments, WINDII and SABER The comparison of individual nights with the SABER instrument produced surprisingly good agreement considering the difference in the two methods. With the basic analysis of the temperature climatology completed in this work, an outline is given for future research and upgrades to the facility.
Checksum
8b04dc3fc1757b99ffcd3f164f602bd2
Recommended Citation
Herron, Joshua P., "Mesospheric Temperature Climatology Above Utah State University" (2004). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 6877.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/6877
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