Simultaneous observations of mesospheric gravity waves with the MU radar and a sodium lidar

Abstract

Simultaneous observations of mesospheric gravity waves have been carried out using meteor wind measurements with the middle and upper atmosphere (MU) radar at Shigaraki, Japan (34.9°N, 136.1°E), and density perturbations of the sodium lidar at Hachioji, Tokyo, Japan (35.6°N, 139.4°E). The study utilizes 7 hours of data collected on the night of December 15–16, 1993, during a time period when a fairly monochromatic gravity wave was dominant. Using hodograph analysis, the dominant gravity wave was found to exhibit a vertical wavelength of 16 km, an intrinsic period of 9.1 hours, and a horizontal wavelength of about 1900 km. The horizontal propagation direction of the gravity wave was determined from the phase relations between the horizontal wind components and the temperature perturbations at Shigaraki. The wave propagated southward, being almost orthogonal to the baseline between Shigaraki and Hachioji. Employing the dispersion and polarization relations for linear gravity waves, the wave‐induced neutral density perturbations from the MU radar observations were estimated. A comparison with the corresponding density perturbations derived from the sodium density measurements showed good agreement. The amplitudes of the neutral density perturbations observed at both locations, which are separated by 310 km, were similar, with a maximum perturbation of ∼7% and a good correlation of phase. Time variations of the hourly variance of the density perturbations also agreed quite well between the two independent determinations, which again supports the view that the radar and the lidar detected the same gravity wave.