Mesospheric rotational temperatures determined from the OH(6-2) emission above Adelaide, Australia

Abstract

Tide-like variations observed in data from an OH spectrometer and MF radar, co-located at the Buckland Park field station (34°38′S, 138°29′E) near Adelaide, South Australia, over six nights in September 1993 are presented. A prominent semi-diurnal tide-like variation in temperature with a magnitude of up to 40 K peak-to-peak is observed in the OH data. Temperature and wind amplitudes and phases are compared with a semi-diurnal model, as are the relationships between the quantities. In addition, the observed temperature variations are compared with those of previous researchers. With regard to the absolute values of the amplitudes and phases, the model and observations differ. However, the observed relationships between the quantities, in terms of phase, are found to agree well with the model for four of the six individual nights, as well as for data that are the average of the six nights.