A comparison of Northern Hemisphere winds using SuperDARN meteor trail andMF radar wind measurements

The main purpose of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is to use paired radars to deduce the F-region convection from Doppler measuremen ts of backscatter seen at large ranges, typically beyond similar to 900 km. Nearer to each HF radar, the nearest ranges at similar to 165-400 km are d ominated by meteor trail echoes. Once formed, the motion of these meteor tr ails is normally controlled by neutral winds in the 80-110 km altitude rang e. By combining the line-of-sight velocities from all 16 receiver beams (si milar to 52 degrees in azimuth) of a given SuperDARN radar, it is possible to determine the full horizontal wind vector field over the meteor trail he ight range. Elevation angles are also measured using an interferometer mode and as such height information can, in principle, be obtained from the com bined range and elevation angle data. A comparison with neutral wind measur ements from a colocated (Saskatoon, Canada) MF wind radar indicates good ag reement between the two radar systems at heights of similar to 95 km. Based on these detailed comparisons, a simple common method for determining two- dimensional winds for all SuperDARN radars, which have extensive longitudin al coverage, was developed. Comparisons with other systems used for dynamic al studies of tides and planetary waves are desirable and prove to be essen tial to obtain a good SuperDARN neutral wind motion analysis. The MF radars at Saskatoon and Tromso, Norway, are located near the western and eastern ends of the Northern Hemisphere network of six SuperDARN radars. Comparison s between the two types of radars for two seasonal intervals (September and December) show that the SuperDARN radars provide good longitudinal coverag e of tides in support of the more detailed MF radar data. The two systems c omplement each other effectively.