A comparison between radio meteor and airglow winds.

Abstract

A comparison between the winds near 97 kilometers altitude has been made from observations of the 17924K (5577Å) OI line emission at Fritz Peak Observatory (39.8N, 195.5W) and with a meteor radar facility at Atlanta (34N, 84W), from August 1974 to November 1975. Since the optical emission measurements are made only at night, the nighttime meteor radar measurements have been used, weighted by an airglow emission rate profile. The results show general agreement in both the zonal and meridional wind vectors, but with the variations in the amplitude of the meridional winds at the northernmost station (Fritz Peak Observatory) larger than those at Atlanta, a result of the smoothing inherent in producing the meteor winds.