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Height and time characteristics of seasonal and diurnal variations in PMWE based on 1 year observations by the PANSY radar (69.0°S, 39.6°E)
Author(s) -
Nishiyama Takanori,
Sato Kaoru,
Nakamura Takuji,
Tsutsumi Masaki,
Sato Toru,
Kohma Masashi,
Nishimura Koji,
Tomikawa Yoshihiro,
Ejiri Mitsumu K.,
Tsuda Takuo T.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2015gl063349
Subject(s) - sunset , mesosphere , altitude (triangle) , stratosphere , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , polar night , troposphere , local time , range (aeronautics) , physics , climatology , geology , astronomy , statistics , mathematics , geometry , materials science , composite material
We report height and time variations in polar mesosphere winter echoes (PMWE) based on the Program of the Antarctic Syowa mesosphere‐stratosphere‐troposphere/incoherent scatter (PANSY) radar observations. PMWE were identified for 110 days from March to September 2013. PMWE occurrence frequency increased abruptly in May when two solar proton events occurred. PMWE were also observed even during periods without any solar proton events, suggesting that a possible cause of the PMWE is ionization by energetic electron precipitations. The monthly mean PMWE characteristics showed that occurrence of PMWE were mainly restricted to sunlit time. This fact indicates that electrons detached from negatively charged particles play an important role. While PMWE below 72 km in altitude completely disappeared before sunset, it was detected above that altitude for a few hours even after sunset. This height dependence in the altitude range of 60–80 km can be explained qualitatively by empirical effective recombination rates.