Measurements of the high latitude middle atmosphere dynamic structure using lidar

A new mobile lidar was used to obtain data on the variations that occur in the high latitude atmosphere between 20 and 85 km. Data were obtained on 26 nights during the program. Standard meteorological balloon and rocket payloads also measured the density, for comparison with the lidar data. More than a thousand profiles of atmospheric density were obtained with the lidar and 20 meteorological rockets were launched. Comparisons between the lidar data and the meteorological rocket data showed generally good agreement. However, the lidar data from the February period is offset 12-14 percent from the rocket data. The March and April data, including 14 sets of overlapping data, generally agree to within 3 percent. Keywords: Lidar; Atmospheric density; Middle atmosphere; Atmospheric variations; High latitude atmosphere.