ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Space Physics
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2025.1677150
This article is part of the Research TopicLarge Long-Lived Vertical Wind Oscillations in the Mesosphere and Thermosphere RegionsView all articles
Lower-thermospheric vertical wind measurements from the Arecibo Radio Observatory
Provisionally accepted
- 1Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
- 2Clemson University, Clemson, United States
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Vertical wind profiles in the lower thermosphere computed from data from the Arecibo Radio Observatory between 2013–2016 are reviewed and analyzed. The estimates are derived from ion-line spectral measurements in the E and F regions made with the Arecibo dual-beam incoherent scatter radar using a number of specialized pulsing schemes. The background electric field is estimated on the basis of F-region samples, and its effects are then removed from E-region samples. Statistical inverse methods are used to estimate vector wind profiles in the lower thermosphere versus time. Data from the daytime E region and from nighttime sporadic-E layers are examined. We find large and highly variable vertical winds in the lower thermosphere at upper E-region altitudes. Frequency and vertical wavenumber spectra computed from the vertical wind estimates exhibit power laws, and the latter exhibit some degree of universality. The spectral forms are consistent with those measured in the mesosphere elsewhere. Theoretical interpretations of the spectral measurements are briefly reviewed.
Keywords: neutral winds, Lower thermosphere, Radar methods, gravity waves, Mesospheric turbulence
Received: 31 Jul 2025; Accepted: 21 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Hysell and Larsen. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: David Hysell, Cornell University, Ithaca, United States
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