Articles | Volume 19, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.5194/amt-19-4277-2026
© Author(s) 2026. 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-19-4277-2026
© Author(s) 2026. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
30 Jun 2026
Research article |
| 30 Jun 2026
| 30 Jun 2026
Monitoring of lower thermospheric neutral density variations using meteor head echoes
Devin Huyghebaert
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Department of Physics and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Juha Vierinen
Department of Physics and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Björn Gustavsson
Department of Physics and Technology, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
Ralph Latteck
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Toralf Renkwitz
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Marius Zecha
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Claudia C. Stephan
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
J. Federico Conte
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Daniel Kastinen
Swedish Institute for Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
Johan Kero
Swedish Institute for Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden
Jorge L. Chau
Leibniz Institute of Atmospheric Physics, University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany
Data sets
HuyghebaertAMT2025 Devin Huyghebaert and Juha Vierinen https://doi.org/10.22000/yk29t2gu0h4jhkjg
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 (Middle Atmosphere Alomar Radar System (MAARSY)) to measure the meteors and determine changes to the atmospheric density between the years of 2016–2023 at altitudes of 85–115 km. The same time period between years are compared, minimizing changes to the measurements due to factors other than the atmosphere.
The phenomena of meteors occurs at altitudes of 60–120 km and can be used to measure the neutral...
