Dynamics and ionisation in the Antarctic middle atmosphere: MF radar measurements

Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) Metadata:

• Identification_Information
• Data_Quality_Information
• Spatial_Reference_Information
• Distribution_Information
• Metadata_Reference_Information

Identification_Information:

Citation:

Citation_Information:

Originator: Unknown

Publication_Date: Unknown

Title: Dynamics and ionisation in the Antarctic middle atmosphere: MF radar measurements

Description:

Abstract:

Our studies investigate the Antarctic middle atmosphere’s response to natural and man-made factors which change climate. The dynamical processes of this region are significant in controlling the circulation at lower altitudes, including the stratospheric ozone layer. The feedbacks in the atmosphere, couple this change to climate change at the surface. The seasonal behaviour of this wave-driven circulation, particularly it's dependence on major disturbances in the stratosphere which result in the transport of energy and momentum by waves to a higher altitudes are examined. The programme is based on continuous monitoring of winds in the middle atmosphere at altitudes of 60-100km using a ground-based medium frequency radar located at Scott Base. The Scott Base radar has been recording wind measurements since 1982 and is one of the longest duration climate records of this type of data in the world. The measurements made by the Scott Base MF radar provide valuable climate information about how the flow in the middle atmosphere (70-100 km) has changed. This record along with observations from satellite instruments allows the coupling between the middle atmosphere and the surface over Antarctica to be examined, this coupling is often associated with wave-like motions in the atmosphere that the MF radar is particularly good at observing. The circulation is dominated by pole-to-pole flow, from the summer pole to the winter pole. This circulation is largely driven by atmospheric waves with time scales from 15 minutes to 15 days. The large scale of the phenomenon benefits considerably from co-operative observations by our own radar near Christchurch, and by our US colleagues at the South Pole, Admiral Heights (from January 2000) and Tekapo. We also use satellite data for the region between Antarctica and New Zealand. This type of study is important because improvements in the predictive ability of the current generation of climate models may be particularly sensitive to the coupling processes that we examine.

Purpose:

Not Available

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Baumgaertner, A.J.G. McDonald, A.J. Fraser, G.J. Plank, G.E. 2005 Long-term observations of mean winds and tides in the upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere above Scott Base, Antarctica. Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 67(16): 1480-1496

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Baumgaertner, A.J.G. Jarvis, M.J. McDonald, A.J. Fraser, G.J. 2006 Observations of wavenumber 1 and 2 components of the semi-diurnal tide over Antarctica. Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 68: 1195-1214 doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2006.03.001

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Baumgaertner, A.J.G. McDonald, A.J. 2007 A gravity wave climatology for Antarctica compiled from Challenging Minisatellite Payload/Global Positioning System (CHAMP/GPS) radio occultations. Journal of geophysical research 112: D05103 doi:10.1029/2006JD007504

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Baumgaertner, A.J.G. McDonald, A.J. Hibbins, R.E. Fritts, D.C. Murphy, D.J. Vincent, R.A. 2008 Short-period planetary waves in the Antarctic middle atmosphere. Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 70(10): 1336-1350

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Fraser, G.J. Marsh, S. Baggaley, W. Bennett, B. Lawrence, B. McDonald, A. Plant, G. 2006 Small-scale structures in common-volume meteor wind measurements. Journal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics 68(3-5): 317-322 doi:10.1016/j.jastp.2005.03.016

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Huck, P.E. McDonald, A.J. Bodeker, G.E. Struthers, H. 2005 Interannual variability in ozone depletion controlled by planetary waves and polar temperature. Geophysical research letters 32: L13819 10.1029/2005GL022943

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Huck, P.E. Tilmes, S. Bodeker, G.E. Randel, W.J. McDonald, A.J. Nakajima, H. 2007 An improved measure of ozone depletion in the Antarctic stratosphere. Journal of geophysical research 112(D11): D11104 doi:10.1029/2006JD007860, 2007

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Kruetzmann, N.C. McDonald, A.J. George, S.E. 2008 Identification of mixing barriers in chemistry-climate-model simulations using Renyi entropy. Geophysical research letters 35: L06806 doi:10.1029/2007GL032829

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: McDonald, A.J. Baumgaertner, A.J.G. Fraser, G.J. George, S.E. Marsh, S. 2007 Empirical Mode Decomposition of the atmospheric wave field. Annales geophysicae 25: 375-384

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: McDonald, A.J. 2008 Antarctic ozone depletion and polar stratospheric clouds. Clean air and environmental quality 42(4): 30-35

Supplemental_Information:

REFERENCE: Murphy, D.J. Forbes, J.M. Walterscheid, R.L. Hagan, M.E. Avery, S.K. Aso, T. Fraser, G.J. Fritts, D.C. Jarvis, M.J. McDonald, A.J. Riggin, D.M. Tsutsumi, M. Vincent, R.A. 2006 The climatology of tides in the Antarctic mesosphere and lower thermosphere. Journal of geophysical research 111: D23104 doi: 10.1029/2005JD006803

Time_Period_of_Content:

Time_Period_Information:

Range_of_Dates/Times:

Beginning_Date: 20030101

Ending_Date: Unknown

Currentness_Reference:Unknown

Status:

Progress: In Work

Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed

Spatial_Domain:

Description_of_Geographic_Extent:

Bounding_Coordinates:

West_Bounding_Coordinate: 166.75

East_Bounding_Coordinate: 166.75

North_Bounding_Coordinate: -77.85

South_Bounding_Coordinate: -77.85

Keywords:

Theme:

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD SCIENCE PARAMETERS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD PLATFORM

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ANCILLARY KEYWORDS

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: ISO TOPIC CATEGORY

Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: DATA SET LANGUAGE

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > UPPER LEVEL WINDS

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > VERTICAL WIND MOTION

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ATMOSPHERIC WINDS > WIND PROFILES

Theme_Keyword: EARTH SCIENCE > ATMOSPHERE > ALTITUDE > MESOPAUSE

Theme_Keyword: GROUND STATIONS

Theme_Keyword: GROUND-BASED OBSERVATIONS

Theme_Keyword: Atmospheric Winds

Theme_Keyword: Mesosphere

Theme_Keyword: Climate Change

Theme_Keyword: CLIMATOLOGY/METEOROLOGY/ATMOSPHERE

Theme_Keyword: ENGLISH

Place:

Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: GCMD

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA

Place_Keyword: CONTINENT > ANTARCTICA > SCOTT BASE

Place_Keyword: GEOGRAPHIC REGION > POLAR

Access_Constraints: Not Available

Use_Constraints:

Not Available

Point_of_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: ADRIAN MCDONALD

Contact_Position: INVESTIGATOR

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Department of Physics and Astronomy

Address: University of Canterbury

Address: Private Bag 4800

City: Christchurch

Country: New Zealand

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +64 3 364 2281

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +64 3 364 2469

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: a.mcdonald@phys.canterbury.ac.nz

Data_Quality_Information:

Attribute_Accuracy:

Attribute_Accuracy_Report:

This is an ongoing data set from as early as 1982. The investigator upgraded data acquisition and processing system to fall in line with his project objectives in 2003, not in line with historic data collection objectives. He maintains possession of all of this data and is currently using it. If anyone wishes to use it, it is with the investigators permission.

Logical_Consistency_Report:

Not Available

Completeness_Report:

Not Available

Lineage:

Process_Step:

Process_Description:

Not Available

Process_Date: Unknown

Spatial_Reference_Information:

Distribution_Information:

Distributor:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Organization_Primary:

Contact_Organization: NZ/NZAI/ANZ > Antarctica New Zealand, New Zealand Antarctic Institute, New Zealand

Contact_Person: SHULAMIT GORDON

Contact_Position: DATA CENTER CONTACT

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Antarctica New Zealand

Address: Private Bag 4745

City: Christchurch

Country: New Zealand

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +64 3 358 0200

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +64 3 358 0211

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: s.gordon@antarcticanz.govt.nz

Resource_Description: K055_2004_2012_NZ_1

Distribution_Liability:

Not Available

Standard_Order_Process:

Digital_Form:

Digital_Transfer_Information:

Format_Name: Not Available

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://www.antarcticanz.govt.nz/

Access_Instructions:

DATA CENTER URL

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://www2.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/~physatmo/

Access_Instructions:

A daily update of MF radar data

Digital_Transfer_Option:

Online_Option:

Computer_Contact_Information:

Network_Address:

Network_Resource_Name:

http://www.phys.canterbury.ac.nz/people/mcdonald.s...

Access_Instructions:

The investigators homepage

Fees: Not Available

Metadata_Reference_Information:

Metadata_Date: 20090130

Metadata_Review_Date: 20120615

Metadata_Contact:

Contact_Information:

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: CEISHA POIROT

Contact_Person_Primary:

Contact_Person: SHULAMIT GORDON

Contact_Position: DIF AUTHOR

Contact_Position: DIF AUTHOR

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Antarctica New Zealand

Address: Private Bag 4745

City: Christchurch

Country: New Zealand

Contact_Address:

Address_Type: Mailing and Physical Address

Address: Antarctica New Zealand

Address: Private Bag 4745

City: Christchurch

Country: New Zealand

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +64 3 358 0200

Contact_Voice_Telephone: +64 3 358 0200

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +64 3 358 0211

Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: +64 3 358 0211

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: c.poirot@antarcticanz.govt.nz

Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: s.gordon@antarcticanz.govt.nz

Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata

Metadata_Standard_Version: FGDC-STD-001-1998

Metadata_Time_Convention: local time