Gravity wave flux retrievals using meteor radars

Abstract

<jats:p>The ability of all‐sky interferometric meteor radars to measure mean wind and high‐frequency gravity wave wind perturbations from meteor radial velocities is assessed. A Monte‐Carlo technique that models line‐of‐sight meteor wind measurements with realistic errors in angle‐of‐arrival and range is used to investigate uncertainties in mean wind and gravity wave wind parameters as a function of meteor echo rate. It is shown that mean horizontal wind speeds are recovered with reasonable accuracy at meteor rates as low as 10 hr<jats:sup>−1</jats:sup>. Mean‐square horizontal wind perturbation can be derived with relatively little averaging, but <jats:inline-graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="graphic/grl27256-math-0001.gif" xlink:title="equation image" /> momentum fluxes are recovered with much less accuracy, which means that considerable averaging is required to produce meaningful values. Results are illustrated using meteor wind radar observations taken over a 30‐day period in January–February 2006 in Northern Australia.</jats:p>