Articles | Volume 14, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3583-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-3583-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Resolving the ambiguous direction of arrival of weak meteor radar trail echoes
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Box 812, 98128 Kiruna, Sweden
Department of Physics, Umeå University, 90187 Umeå, Sweden
Johan Kero
Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Box 812, 98128 Kiruna, Sweden
Alexander Kozlovsky
Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, Sodankylä, Finland
Mark Lester
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom
Related authors
Devin Huyghebaert, Juha Vierinen, Björn Gustavsson, Ralph Latteck, Toralf Renkwitz, Marius Zecha, Claudia C. Stephan, J. Federico Conte, Daniel Kastinen, Johan Kero, and Jorge L. Chau
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2323, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2323, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The phenomena of meteors occurs at altitudes of 60–120 km and can be used to measure the neutral atmosphere. We use a large high power radar system in Norway (MAARSY) to determine changes to the atmospheric density between the years of 2016–2023 at altitudes of 85–115 km. The same day-of-year is compared, minimizing changes to the measurements due to factors other than the atmosphere. This presents a novel method by which to obtain atmospheric neutral density variations.
Daniel Kastinen and Johan Kero
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6813–6835, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6813-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6813-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The behaviour of position determination with interferometric radar systems and possible ambiguities therein depends on the spatial configuration of the radar-receiving antennas and their individual characteristics. We have simulated the position determination performance of five different radar systems. These simulations showed that ambiguities are dynamic and need to be examined on a case-by-case basis. However, the simulations can be used to analyse and understand previously ambiguous data.
Guochun Shi, Hanli Liu, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Alexander Kozlovsky, Dimitry Pokhotelov, Mark Lester, Christoph Jacobi, Kun Wu, and Gunter Stober
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 25, 9403–9430, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9403-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-25-9403-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
Concerns about climate change are growing due to its widespread impacts, including rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and disruptions to ecosystems. To address these challenges, urgent global action is needed to monitor the distribution of trace gases and understand their effects on the atmosphere.
Arthur Gauthier, Claudia Borries, Alexander Kozlovsky, Diego Janches, Peter Brown, Denis Vida, Christoph Jacobi, Damian Murphy, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Johan Kero, Nicholas Mitchell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin, and Gunter Stober
Ann. Geophys., 43, 427–440, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-427-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-427-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
This study focuses on a TIMED Doppler Interferometer (TIDI)–meteor radar (MR) comparison of zonal and meridional winds and their dependence on local time and latitude. The correlation calculation between TIDI wind measurements and MR winds shows good agreement. A TIDI–MR seasonal comparison and analysis of the altitude–latitude dependence for winds are performed. TIDI reproduces the mean circulation well when compared with MRs and may be a useful lower boundary for general circulation models.
Florian Günzkofer, Gunter Stober, Johan Kero, David R. Themens, Anders Tjulin, Njål Gulbrandsen, Masaki Tsutsumi, and Claudia Borries
Ann. Geophys., 43, 331–348, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-331-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-43-331-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The Earth’s magnetic field is not closed at high latitudes. Electrically charged particles can penetrate the Earth’s atmosphere, deposit their energy, and heat the local atmosphere–ionosphere. This presumably causes an upwelling of the neutral atmosphere, which affects the atmosphere–ionosphere coupling. We apply a new analysis technique to infer the atmospheric density from incoherent scatter radar measurements. We identify signs of particle precipitation impact on the neutral atmosphere.
Devin Huyghebaert, Juha Vierinen, Björn Gustavsson, Ralph Latteck, Toralf Renkwitz, Marius Zecha, Claudia C. Stephan, J. Federico Conte, Daniel Kastinen, Johan Kero, and Jorge L. Chau
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2323, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-2323, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
The phenomena of meteors occurs at altitudes of 60–120 km and can be used to measure the neutral atmosphere. We use a large high power radar system in Norway (MAARSY) to determine changes to the atmospheric density between the years of 2016–2023 at altitudes of 85–115 km. The same day-of-year is compared, minimizing changes to the measurements due to factors other than the atmosphere. This presents a novel method by which to obtain atmospheric neutral density variations.
Gunter Stober, Sharon L. Vadas, Erich Becker, Alan Liu, Alexander Kozlovsky, Diego Janches, Zishun Qiao, Witali Krochin, Guochun Shi, Wen Yi, Jie Zeng, Peter Brown, Denis Vida, Neil Hindley, Christoph Jacobi, Damian Murphy, Ricardo Buriti, Vania Andrioli, Paulo Batista, John Marino, Scott Palo, Denise Thorsen, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Kathrin Baumgarten, Johan Kero, Evgenia Belova, Nicholas Mitchell, Tracy Moffat-Griffin, and Na Li
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 24, 4851–4873, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4851-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-24-4851-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
On 15 January 2022, the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha‘apai volcano exploded in a vigorous eruption, causing many atmospheric phenomena reaching from the surface up to space. In this study, we investigate how the mesospheric winds were affected by the volcanogenic gravity waves and estimated their propagation direction and speed. The interplay between model and observations permits us to gain new insights into the vertical coupling through atmospheric gravity waves.
Peter Dalin, Urban Brändström, Johan Kero, Peter Voelger, Takanori Nishiyama, Trond Trondsen, Devin Wyatt, Craig Unick, Vladimir Perminov, Nikolay Pertsev, and Jonas Hedin
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 17, 1561–1576, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1561-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-17-1561-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
A novel infrared imaging instrument (OH imager) was put into operation in November 2022 at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna (Sweden). The OH imager is dedicated to the study of nightglow emissions coming from the hydroxyl (OH) and molecular oxygen (O2) layers in the mesopause (80–100 km). Based on a brightness ratio of two OH emission lines, the neutral temperature is estimated at around 87 km. The average daily winter temperature for the period January–April 2023 is 203±10 K.
Florian Günzkofer, Dimitry Pokhotelov, Gunter Stober, Ingrid Mann, Sharon L. Vadas, Erich Becker, Anders Tjulin, Alexander Kozlovsky, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Evgenia Belova, Johan Kero, Nicholas J. Mitchell, and Claudia Borries
Ann. Geophys., 41, 409–428, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-409-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-409-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Gravity waves (GWs) are waves in Earth's atmosphere and can be observed as cloud ripples. Under certain conditions, these waves can propagate up into the ionosphere. Here, they can cause ripples in the ionosphere plasma, observable as oscillations of the plasma density. Therefore, GWs contribute to the ionospheric variability, making them relevant for space weather prediction. Additionally, the behavior of these waves allows us to draw conclusions about the atmosphere at these altitudes.
Gunter Stober, Alan Liu, Alexander Kozlovsky, Zishun Qiao, Witali Krochin, Guochun Shi, Johan Kero, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Kathrin Baumgarten, Evgenia Belova, and Nicholas Mitchell
Ann. Geophys., 41, 197–208, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-197-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-41-197-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
The Hunga Tonga–Hunga Ha‘apai volcanic eruption was one of the most vigorous volcanic explosions in the last centuries. The eruption launched many atmospheric waves traveling around the Earth. In this study, we identify these volcanic waves at the edge of space in the mesosphere/lower-thermosphere, leveraging wind observations conducted with multi-static meteor radars in northern Europe and with the Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars (CONDOR).
Gunter Stober, Alan Liu, Alexander Kozlovsky, Zishun Qiao, Ales Kuchar, Christoph Jacobi, Chris Meek, Diego Janches, Guiping Liu, Masaki Tsutsumi, Njål Gulbrandsen, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Evgenia Belova, Johan Kero, and Nicholas Mitchell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 15, 5769–5792, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5769-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-15-5769-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Precise and accurate measurements of vertical winds at the mesosphere and lower thermosphere are rare. Although meteor radars have been used for decades to observe horizontal winds, their ability to derive reliable vertical wind measurements was always questioned. In this article, we provide mathematical concepts to retrieve mathematically and physically consistent solutions, which are compared to the state-of-the-art non-hydrostatic model UA-ICON.
Mizuki Fukizawa, Takeshi Sakanoi, Yoshimasa Tanaka, Yasunobu Ogawa, Keisuke Hosokawa, Björn Gustavsson, Kirsti Kauristie, Alexander Kozlovsky, Tero Raita, Urban Brändström, and Tima Sergienko
Ann. Geophys., 40, 475–484, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-475-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-40-475-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The pulsating auroral generation mechanism has been investigated by observing precipitating electrons using rockets or satellites. However, it is difficult for such observations to distinguish temporal changes from spatial ones. In this study, we reconstructed the horizontal 2-D distribution of precipitating electrons using only auroral images. The 3-D aurora structure was also reconstructed. We found that there were both spatial and temporal changes in the precipitating electron energy.
Gunter Stober, Alexander Kozlovsky, Alan Liu, Zishun Qiao, Masaki Tsutsumi, Chris Hall, Satonori Nozawa, Mark Lester, Evgenia Belova, Johan Kero, Patrick J. Espy, Robert E. Hibbins, and Nicholas Mitchell
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 6509–6532, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6509-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-6509-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Wind observations at the edge to space, 70–110 km altitude, are challenging. Meteor radars have become a widely used instrument to obtain mean wind profiles above an instrument for these heights. We describe an advanced mathematical concept and present a tomographic analysis using several meteor radars located in Finland, Sweden and Norway, as well as Chile, to derive the three-dimensional flow field. We show an example of a gravity wave decelerating the mean flow.
Gunter Stober, Ales Kuchar, Dimitry Pokhotelov, Huixin Liu, Han-Li Liu, Hauke Schmidt, Christoph Jacobi, Kathrin Baumgarten, Peter Brown, Diego Janches, Damian Murphy, Alexander Kozlovsky, Mark Lester, Evgenia Belova, Johan Kero, and Nicholas Mitchell
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 21, 13855–13902, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13855-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-21-13855-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
Little is known about the climate change of wind systems in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere at the edge of space at altitudes from 70–110 km. Meteor radars represent a well-accepted remote sensing technique to measure winds at these altitudes. Here we present a state-of-the-art climatological interhemispheric comparison using continuous and long-lasting observations from worldwide distributed meteor radars from the Arctic to the Antarctic and sophisticated general circulation models.
Nadezda Yagova, Alexander Kozlovsky, Evgeny Fedorov, and Olga Kozyreva
Ann. Geophys., 39, 549–562, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-549-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-39-549-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We present a study of ultralow-frequency waves in the ionosphere and on the ground. These waves are very slow (their periods are about several minutes). They are registered on the ground as geomagnetic pulsations. No simple dependence exists between geomagnetic and ionospheric pulsations. Here we study not only selected pulsations with very high amplitudes but also usual pulsations and try to answer the question, which pulsation parameters are favorable for modulation of the ionosphere?
Emranul Sarkar, Alexander Kozlovsky, Thomas Ulich, Ilkka Virtanen, Mark Lester, and Bernd Kaifler
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 14, 4157–4169, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4157-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-14-4157-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The biasing effect in meteor radar temperature has been a pressing issue for the last 2 decades. This paper has addressed the underlying reasons for such a biasing effect on both theoretical and experimental grounds. An improved statistical method has been developed which allows atmospheric temperatures at around 90 km to be measured with meteor radar in an independent way such that any subsequent bias correction or calibration is no longer required.
Daniel Kastinen and Johan Kero
Atmos. Meas. Tech., 13, 6813–6835, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6813-2020, https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-13-6813-2020, 2020
Short summary
Short summary
The behaviour of position determination with interferometric radar systems and possible ambiguities therein depends on the spatial configuration of the radar-receiving antennas and their individual characteristics. We have simulated the position determination performance of five different radar systems. These simulations showed that ambiguities are dynamic and need to be examined on a case-by-case basis. However, the simulations can be used to analyse and understand previously ambiguous data.
Cited articles
Bianchi, C. and Meloni, A.: Natural and man-made terrestrial electromagnetic
noise: an outlook, Ann. Geophys.-Italy, 50, 435–445, 2007. a
Bronshten, V. A.: Physics of Meteoric Phenomena, Kluwer, Dordrecht,
The Netherlands, 1983. a
Brown, P., Spalding, R. E., ReVelle, D. O., Tagliaferri, E., and
Worden, S. P.: The flux of small near-Earth objects colliding with the
Earth, Nature, 420, 294–296, https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01238, 2002. a
Ceplecha, Z., Borovička, J., Elford, W. G., Revelle, D. O.,
Hawkes, R. L., Porubčan, V., and Šimek, M.: Meteor Phenomena
and Bodies, Space Sci. Rev., 84, 327–471,
https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1005069928850, 1998. a
Chau, J. L. and Clahsen, M.: Empirical Phase Calibration for Multistatic
Specular Meteor Radars Using a Beamforming Approach, Radio Sci., 54,
60–71, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018RS006741, 2019. a, b, c
Gaensler, B. M.: Radio Emission from the Milky Way, in: Milky Way Surveys: The Structure and Evolution of our Galaxy, edited by: Clemens, D., Shah, R., and Brainerd, T., Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP),
ASP Conference Series,
Utah Valley University, 217, 2004. a
Hanley, J. A. and Lippman-Hand, A.: If nothing goes wrong, is everything all
right?: interpreting zero numerators, Jama, 249, 1743–1745, 1983. a
Hocking, W. K.: A new approach to momentum flux determinations using SKiYMET meteor radars, Ann. Geophys., 23, 2433–2439, https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-23-2433-2005, 2005. a, b
Hocking, W. K., Fuller, B., and Vandepeer, B.: Real-time determination
of meteor-related parameters utilizing modern digital technology,
J. Atmos. Sol.-Terr. Phy., 63, 155–169,
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6826(00)00138-3, 2001. a, b, c, d
Holdsworth, D. A.: Angle of arrival estimation for all-sky interferometric
meteor radar systems, Radio Sci., 40, RS6010, https://doi.org/10.1029/2005RS003245,
2005. a, b
Holdsworth, D. A., Reid, I. M., and Cervera, M. A.: Buckland Park
all-sky interferometric meteor radar, Radio Sci., 39, RS5009,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2003RS003014, 2004. a, b, c, d
Kastinen, D. and Kero, J.: A Monte Carlo-type simulation toolbox for Solar System small body dynamics: Application to the October Draconids, Planet. Space Sci., 143, 53–66, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2017.03.007, 2017. a
Kastinen, D., Kozlovsky, A., Lester, M., and Kero, J.:
Resolving ambiguous direction of arrival of weak meteor radar trail echoes, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, https://doi.org/10.5878/vnhd-na43, 2020. a
Kelley, M. C.: The Earth's ionosphere: plasma physics and electrodynamics,
Academic Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-404013-7.X5001-1, 2009. a
Kero, J., Campbell-Brown, M. D., Stober, G., Chau, J. L., Mathews,
J. D., and Pellinen-Wannberg, A.: Radar Observations of Meteors, in: Meteoroids: Sources of Meteors on Earth and Beyond, edited by: Ryabova, G. O. and, Asher, D. J., and Campbell-Brown, M. J., Cambridge University Press, 65–89, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108606462,
2019. a, b
Kozlovsky, A., Shalimov, S., Oyama, S., Hosokawa, K., Lester, M.,
Ogawa, Y., and Hall, C.: Ground Echoes Observed by the Meteor Radar and
High-Speed Auroral Observations in the Substorm Growth Phase,
J. Geophys. Res.-Space, 124, 9278–9292,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA026829, 2019. a
Kozlovsky, A., Lukianova, R., and Lester, M.: Occurrence and Altitude of the Long-Lived Nonspecular Meteor Trails During Meteor Showers at High
Latitudes, J. Geophys. Res.-Space, 125, e27746,
https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JA027746, 2020. a
Lovell, A. C. B., Prentice, J. P. M., Porter, J. G., Pearse, R. W. B., and Herlofson, N.: Meteors, comets and meteoric ionization, Rep. Prog. Phys., 11, 389–454, https://doi.org/10.1088/0034-4885/11/1/313, 1947. a
McKinley, D. W. R.: Meteor Science and Engineering, McGraw-Hill Series in
Engineering Sciences, McGraw-Hill Book Company, Inc., USA, 309 pp., 1961. a
Miller, K. and Bernstein, R.: An analysis of coherent integration and its
application to signal detection, IRE T. Inform. Theor., 3,
237–248, https://doi.org/10.1109/TIT.1957.1057425, 1957. a
O'Donoughue, N. and Moura, J. M. F.: On the Product of Independent Complex Gaussians, IEEE T. Signal Proces., 60, 1050–1063, 2012. a
Papoulis, A. and Pillai, S. U.: Probability, random variables, and stochastic
processes, Tata McGraw-Hill Education, McGraw Hill Europe, UK, 852 pp., ISBN-10 0071226613,
ISBN-13 978-0071226615,
2002. a
Plane, J. M.: Atmospheric chemistry of meteoric metals, Chem. Rev., 103, 4963–4984, 2003. a
Plane, J. M.: Cosmic dust in the Earth's atmosphere,
Chem. Soc. Rev., 41, 6507–6518, 2012. a
Polisensky, E.: LFmap: A low frequency sky map generating program, Long
Wavelength Array Memo Series, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Polytechnic, Institute and State University, USA, 111 pp., 2007. a
Vaubaillon, J., Colas, F., and Jorda, L.: A new method to predict meteor showers – I. Description of the model, Astron. Astrophys., 439, 751–760, https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20041544, 2005a.
a
Vaubaillon, J., Colas, F., and Jorda, L.: A new method to predict meteor showers – II. Application to the Leonids, Astron. Astrophys., 439,
761–770, https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20042626, 2005b. a
Wiegert, P., Vaubaillon, J., and Campbell-Brown, M.: A dynamical model
of the sporadic meteoroid complex, Icarus, 201, 295–310,
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2008.12.030, 2009. a
Younger, J. P. and Reid, I. M.: Interferometer angle-of-arrival
determination using precalculated phases, Radio Sci., 52, 1058–1066,
https://doi.org/10.1002/2017RS006284, 2017. a, b
Short summary
When a meteor enters the atmosphere, it causes a trail of diffusing plasma that moves with the neutral wind. An interferometric radar system can measure such trails and determine its location. However, there is a chance of determining the wrong position due to noise. We simulate this behaviour and use the simulations to successfully determine the true location of ambiguous events. We also successfully test two simple temporal integration methods for avoiding such erroneous determinations.
When a meteor enters the atmosphere, it causes a trail of diffusing plasma that moves with the...