Radar measurements of dynamics and layering processes in the 80-150 km region at Arecibo

Abstract The Arecibo Initiative in Dynamics of the Atmosphere (AIDA) '89 and Overture to AIDA campaigns yielded 35 days, in four periods, of low-latitude Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) power profiles and derived electron concentration results. These results, along with results from the sodium lidar, have been used to study 80–150 km ion layers, the sodium layer, and the complex of dynamical processes involved in the formation of both ion and neutral sodium layers. Features of the ion layer motions reveal a wide range of dynamical processes ranging from multiday period waves, tides, and Acoustic Gravity Waves (AGWs) to geomagnetic storm effects and evidence of coupled neutral sodium and ion layering processes. Joint ISR and sodium lidar results point to localized instabilities in the combined tidal and AGW wind field and to the origins of sporadic E and sporadic sodium layers.