HIGH-RESOLUTION STRATOSPHERIC DYNAMICS MEASUREMENTS WITH THE NASA JPLGOLDSTONE SOLAR-SYSTEM RADAR/

We have used, for the first time that we are aware of, the NASA/JPL Go ldstone planetary radar to study the Earth's atmosphere. With its high bandwidth and power, we were able to achieve a height resolution of 2 0 m, which is significantly better than the usual 150-m resolution for stratospheric radars. Here we discuss the observation of a very thin scattering layer that persisted over several hours at the same height just above the tropopause. We question the assumption of turbulent rad ar scatter based on the available evidence, and also investigate the t wo-minute oscillation observed in the vertical velocity.