Rocket vapor trail releases revisited: Turbulence and the scale of gravity waves: Implications for the imaging Doppler interferometry/incoherent scatter radar controversy

Roper, R. G.

doi:10.1029/95jd03159

Cited by 14 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Some sections of the trails show a wavy modulation, which may be the combined effect of puffing and wake interaction (Roper, 1996).…”

Section: Trail Expansion Above 118 Km and Vertical Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…From triangulation using Ft. Yukon and Coldfoot images we estimate that the width was 300 m at 88 km and 600 m at 92 km at 40 s after the release and remained fairly constant. Blamont and de Jager (1961), Rees et al (1972), Roper (1996) and Bishop et al (2004) used the expansion rates of chemical trails to calculate energy dissipations rates and molecular and turbulent diffusion coefficients. The high time resolution data from Rees et al (1972) show also that only the first few seconds of trail expansion are determined by non-ambient behavior, i.e., the initial motion from the release process.…”

Section: Mixed Layer At 90 Kmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rees et al (1972) describe the region as 1-2 km thick stable and unstable layers based on wind profile observations. Roper (1996) interprets the variable expansion rate of a TMA trail between 102 and 107 km as sequence of laminar and turbulent layers. Anomalous diffusion occurred also in the trail near 105 and 110 km analyzed by .…”

Section: Anomalous Diffusion From 103 To 118 Kmmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…But even above the turbopause, diffusion may not be strictly molecular. Layers of anomalous diffusion are observed, i.e., the expansion is faster than from molecular diffusion alone (e.g., Roper, 1996). Rees et al (1972) suggested that larger scale gravity waves may provide conditions for quiet and turbulent layers and that small scale dynamics is thought to be anisotropic and indicative for viscous dissipation of smaller scale gravity waves.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Turbopause experiment: atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

et al. 2011

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Abstract. Very few sequences of high resolution wind and temperature measurements in the lower thermosphere are available in the literature, which makes it difficult to verify the simulation results of models that would provide better understanding of the complex dynamics of the region. To address this problem the Turbopause experiment used four rockets launched over a period of approximately two hours from Poker Flat Research Range, Alaska (64 • N, 147 • W) on the night of 17-18 February 2009. All four rocket payloads released trimethyl aluminum trails for neutral wind and turbulence measurements, and two of the rockets carried ionization gauges and fixed-bias Langmuir probes measuring neutral and electron densities, small-scale fluctuations and neutral temperatures. Two lidars monitored temperature structure and sodium densities. The observations were made under quiet geomagnetic conditions and show persistence in the wind magnitudes and shears throughout the observing period while being modulated by inertia-gravity waves. High resolution temperature profiles show the winter polar mesosphere and lower thermosphere in a state of relatively low stability with several quasi-adiabatic layers between 74 and 103 km. Temperature and wind data were combined to calculate Richardson number profiles. Evidence for turbulence comes from simultaneous observations of density fluctuations and downward transport of sodium in a mixed layer near 75 km; the observation of turbulent fluctuations and energy dissipation from 87-90 km; and fast and irregular trail expansion at 90-93 km, and especially between 95 to 103 km. The regions of turbulent trails agree well with regions of quasi-adiabatic temperature gradients. Above Correspondence to: G. A. Lehmacher (glehmac@clemson.edu) 103 km, trail diffusion was mainly laminar; however, unusual features and vortices in the trail diffusion were observed up to 118 km that have not been as prevalent or as clearly evident in earlier trail releases.

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“…Some sections of the trails show a wavy modulation, which may be the combined effect of puffing and wake interaction (Roper, 1996).…”

Section: Trail Expansion Above 118 Km and Vertical Motionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Mixed Layer At 90 Kmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Anomalous Diffusion From 103 To 118 Kmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Turbopause experiment: atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

et al. 2011

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“…In Figure 6, two characteristics of upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere turbulence are obvious: (1) intermittency in both height and time and (2) layering, the tendency of turbulence to occur in sheets. Roper [1996] in ajet of water, from Prasad et al [1988]. The field is 1.2 em square.…”

Section: Turbulencementioning

confidence: 99%

On the reality of upper mesospheric/lower thermospheric turbulent “eddies”

Roper¹

1998

Radio Science

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Abstract. The structure of atmospheric turbulence and its relationship to the refractive index discontinuities responsible for the scattering of radio waves are discussed. Emphasis is placed more on the nature of the intermittent scatterers observed at upper mesospheric/lower thermospheric altitudes than on volume scattering. The preferred model is of transient patches composed of vortex strings. An overview of the methods used to estimate the rate of dissipation of turbulent energy using MF radar data which emphasizes the advantages of imaging Doppler interferometry is presented, together with a review of pertinent laboratory investigations of coherent structures. An attempt is made to remove the contamination by gravity waves from imaging Doppler interferometry fluctuating velocity data. Emphasis is given to the fact that all radar measurements of turbulent intensity to date are upper estimates, not only because of the presence of gravity wave fluctuations contaminating the data, but also because the turbulence itself is not stationary and homogeneous but intermittent in both space and time. The intermittent nature of the turbulence, in which the refractive index discontinuities responsible for the radar backscatter are associated with decaying, homogeneous turbulent coherent structures, is in contrast to the theory of volume scattering, which assumes the radar pulse volume to be partially filled with stationary, homogeneous turbulence.

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A review of Mesosphere–Stratosphere–Troposphere (MST) radar developments and studies, circa 1997–2008

Hocking

2011

Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics

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Rocket vapor trail releases revisited: Turbulence and the scale of gravity waves: Implications for the imaging Doppler interferometry/incoherent scatter radar controversy

Cited by 14 publications

References 24 publications

The Turbopause experiment: atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

The Turbopause experiment: atmospheric stability and turbulent structure spanning the turbopause altitude

On the reality of upper mesospheric/lower thermospheric turbulent “eddies”

A review of Mesosphere–Stratosphere–Troposphere (MST) radar developments and studies, circa 1997–2008

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