Simultaneous observations of the July 1996 2-day wave event using the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network and the High Resolution Doppler Imager

Simultaneous observations of a 2-day wave using the Super Dual Auroral Rada r Network (SuperDARN) and the Upper Atmospheric Research Satellite-based (U ARS) High Resolution Doppler Imager (HRDI) are presented. Recent comparison s of SuperDARN data with data from the Saskatoon MF radar [Hall et al., 199 7] demonstrate that SuperDARN data at ranges close to the radar is most lik ely due to scatter from meteor trails and can be used to trace neutral wind s in the meteor region. This study exploits this near-range scatter to obse rve the winds during July 1996. During the study period a clear 2-day wave event was observed in both the radar data and in the HRDI data. Comparisons between the two data sets show similarities and distinct differences. Both instruments observed a wave of similar amplitude in the same time interval . Both instruments indicated a westward propagating wave with zonal wave nu mber 3. HRDI observed the wave to form and diminish at earlier times than S uperDARN observed. In addition, there were distinct differences between the winds observed by HRDI at the radar longitudes and the winds observed by t he radars. Many of the differences may be explained by the latitude differe nce between the radars and the northern most latitude observed by HRDI.