We present a new method of measuring lower thermospheric wind velocity profiles by tracking non‐specular meteor echoes in time. This approach relies on having a radar following plasma irregularities as they are dragged by the neutral wind. This requires a VHF radar with interferometric capability able to point close to perpendicular to the geomagnetic field. Using a small sample of data from the Jicamarca Radio Observatory, we calculated wind speeds and directions between 90 and 110\ km with a range resolution of a few hundred meters. The measurements taken show speeds reaching 150m/s and someAmes changing by as much as 100m/s over a 6km altitude range. With some refinement of the data collection and analysis techniques, we expect that one could obtain high resolution images of lower thermospheric winds as they change in both altitude and time. We will discuss these results, the physic...

Diapositivas presentadas en: CEDAR Workshop 2009 del 28 de junio al 2 de julio de 2009 en Santa Fe, Nuevo México, USA.

VHF radars near the geomagnetic equator receive coherent reflections from plasma density irregularities between 130 and 160 km in altitude during the daytime. Though researchers first discovered these 150 km echoes over 50 years ago and use them to monitor vertical plasma drifts, the underlying mechanism that creates them remains a mystery. This paper uses large‐scale kinetic simulations to show that photoelectrons can drive electron waves, which then enhance ion density irregularities that radars could observe as 150 km echoes. This model explains why 150 km echoes exist only during the day and why they appear at their lowest altitudes near noon. It predicts the spectral structure observed by Chau (2004) and suggests observations that can further evaluate this mechanism. It also shows the types and strength of electron modes that photoelectron‐wave interactions generate in a magneti...

Millions of small but detectable meteors hit the Earth's atmosphere every second, creating trails of hot plasma that turbulently diffuse into the background atmosphere. For over 60 years, radars have detected meteor plasmas and used these signals to infer characteristics of the meteoroid population and upper atmosphere, but, despite the importance of meteor radar measurements, the complex processes by which these plasmas evolve have never been thoroughly explained or modeled. In this paper, we present the first fully 3‐D simulations of meteor evolution, showing meteor plasmas developing instabilities, becoming turbulent, and inhomogeneously diffusing into the background ionosphere. These instabilities explain the characteristics and strength of many radar observations, in particular the high‐resolution nonspecular echoes made by large radars. The simulations reveal how meteors create...

Diapositivas presentadas en: ISEA 12 - 12th International Symposium on Equatorial Aeronomy, May 18-24, 2008. Crete, Greece.

Diapositivas presentadas en el 2010 CEDAR Workshop, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, 20-25 June 2010.