Temperature tides determined with meteor radar 1467

Abstract. A new analysis method for producing tidal tem-perature parameters using meteor radar measurements is pre-sented, and is demonstrated with data from one polar and two mid-latitude sites. The technique further develops the tem-perature algorithm originally introduced by Hocking (1999). That earlier method was used to produce temperature mea-surements over time scales of days and months, but required an empirical model for the mean temperature gradient in the mesopause region. However, when tides are present, this temperature gradient is modulated by the presence of the tides, complicating extraction of diurnal variations. Never-theless, if the vertical wavelengths of the tides are known from wind measurements, the effects of the gradient varia-tions can be compensated for, permitting determination of temperature tidal amplitudes and phases by meteor tech