Comparison between the Mesospheric Winds Observed by Two Collocated Meteor Radars at Low Latitudes

Abstract

This study compares the hourly mesospheric horizontal winds observed by two collocated and independent low-latitude meteor radars operating at 37.5 MHz and 53.1 MHz in Kunming, China (25.6°N, 103.8°E). Upon analyzing simultaneously detected meteor echoes, we find a fixed angular deviation between the baselines of the two meteor radar antenna arrays within the east–north–up coordinate system. Then, we correct the deviation in the antenna azimuth direction using a novel method and recalculate the horizontal zonal and meridional winds. A comparison of the results before and after the correction shows strong consistency between the winds observed by both meteor radars within the entire detection altitude range. Furthermore, we summarize the performance of different techniques for measuring mesospheric winds. Ultimately, our statistical analysis approach allows the uncertainties associated with meteor radar wind observations to be more precisely estimated.