Super Dual Auroral Radar Network observations of meteor echoes

Radar echoes from ranges less than 500 km are routinely observed by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) on most days. Many of these echoes have properties which are markedly different from what one would expect from E or F region irregularities. We show that these unusual short‐range HF...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of Geophysical Research, Washington, DC Washington, DC, 1997-01, Vol.102 (A7), p.14603-14614
Main Authors: Hall, G. E., MacDougall, J. W., Moorcroft, D. R., St.‐Maurice, J.‐P., Manson, A. H., Meek, C. E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cosmic dust
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Physics of the high neutral atmosphere
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Summary:Radar echoes from ranges less than 500 km are routinely observed by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) on most days. Many of these echoes have properties which are markedly different from what one would expect from E or F region irregularities. We show that these unusual short‐range HF echoes are due to scattering off meteor trails. This explains why, among other things, the Doppler shift from the short‐range echoes taken from the SuperDARN Saskatoon antenna are consistent with the mesospheric winds observed by the Saskatoon MF radar. This means that the SuperDARN radars can be used to study neutral winds at meteor heights, a result which is especially interesting since it opens up the capability for a global coverage of mesospheric winds using the worldwide distribution of SuperDARN radars.
ISSN:0148-0227
2156-2202
DOI:10.1029/97JA00517