A. Taori

Multi‐instrument investigation of a mesospheric gravity wave event absorbed into background

We investigate a gravity wave event exhibiting dissipation noted in the mesospheric O(1S) airglow emission image measurements, over Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), on 16 March 2012 (during 16:20–16:45 UT). These gravity waves were found to propagate from south-west to north-east directions at ~65° azimuth in OH as well as in O(1S) images. These waves had horizontal wavelength ~21.5 km with apparent horizontal phase speed ~49 m s−1 and period ~7.3 min. These waves were noted to fizzle out in turbulent patches within 15 min. To identify the causative mechanism of this event, we analyze the background wind and temperature data using the medium-frequency radar wind from Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E), ground-based Rayleigh lidar temperature data with improved capability over Gadanki, and spaceborne Sounding of the Atmosphere using Broadband Emission Radiometry/Thermosphere Ionosphere Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics temperature data (20:30 UT) for a latitude-longitude grid of 3–23°N, 60–100°E. Our analysis reveals that convective instability was responsible for the observed event.

Airglow Measurements of Gravity Wave Propagation and Damping over Kolhapur (16.5°N, 74.2°E)

Simultaneous mesospheric OH and O  (1S) night airglow intensity measurements from Kolhapur (16.8°N, 74.2°E) reveal unambiguous gravity wave signatures with periods varying from 01 hr to 9 hr with upward propagation. The amplitudes growth of these waves is found to vary from 0.4 to 2.2 while propagating from the OH layer (~87 km) to the O (1S) layer (~97 km). We find that vertical wavelength of the observed waves increases with the wave period. The damping factors calculated for the observed waves show large variations and that most of these waves were damped while traveling from the OH emission layer to the O (1S) emission layer. The damping factors for the waves show a positive correlation at vertical wavelengths shorter than 40 km, while a negative correlation at higher vertical wavelengths. We note that the damping factors have stronger positive correlation with meridional wind shears compared to the zonal wind shears.

Probing the possible trigger mechanisms of an equatorial plasma bubble event based on multistation optical data

We analyze an equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) event observed in optical 630 nm image data simultaneously from Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E), Kolhapur (16.8°N, 74.2°E), India. The total electron content data from Gadanki together with the ionosonde data from an equatorial Indian station, Tirunelveli (8.7°N, 77.8°E) confirmed the association of observed EPB event with equatorial spread F (ESF). The optical 630 nm images from a farther low-latitude Indian station Ranchi (23.3°N, 85.3°E) show clear signatures of tilted east-west wave structures propagating toward equator. Further, the upward wave energy noted in mesospheric airglow data was found to be negligible. These data suggest that possibly the off-equatorial tilted east-west structures triggered the observed EPB/ESF event.

On Rayleigh lidar capability enhancement for the measurement of short-period waves at upper mesospheric altitudes

We used a combination of simultaneous measurements made with Rayleigh lidar and O2 airglow monitoring to improve lidar investigation capability to cover a higher altitude range. We fed in instantaneous O2 airglow temperatures rather than model values at the peak altitude for a subsequent integration method of temperature retrieval using Rayleigh lidar backscattered signals. Using this method, errors in the lidar temperature estimates converge at higher altitudes indicating better altitude coverage compared with regular methods where model temperatures are used rather than real-time measurements. This improvement enables the measurement of short-term waves at upper mesospheric altitudes (∼90 km). Using two case studies, we show that above 60 km the amplitude of a few short-term waves drastically increases while some of the short-term waves show either damping or saturation. We claim that by using such combined measurements, significant and cost-effective progress can be made in the understanding of short-term wave processes that are important for coupling across different atmospheric regions.