Simultaneous observations of the July 1996 2‐day wave event using the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network and the High Resolution Doppler Imager

Abstract

Simultaneous observations of a 2‐day wave using the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) and the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite‐based (UARS) High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) are presented. Recent comparisons of SuperDARN data with data from the Saskatoon MF radar [ Hall et al. , 1997] demonstrate that SuperDARN data at ranges close to the radar is most likely due to scatter from meteor trails and can be used to trace neutral winds in the meteor region. This study exploits this near‐range scatter to observe the winds during July 1996. During the study period a clear 2‐day wave event was observed in both the radar data and in the HRDI data. Comparisons between the two data sets show similarities and distinct differences. Both instruments observed a wave of similar amplitude in the same time interval. Both instruments indicated a westward propagating wave with zonal wave number 3. HRDI observed the wave to form and diminish at earlier times than SuperDARN observed. In addition, there were distinct differences between the winds observed by HRDI at the radar longitudes and the winds observed by the radars. Many of the differences may be explained by the latitude difference between the radars and the northern most latitude observed by HRDI.