Articles | Volume 13, issue 11
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-995-1172-y
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-995-1172-y
30 Nov 1995
30 Nov 1995

Observations of the E-region horizontal winds in the auroral zone and at mid-latitudes by a ground-based interferometer

V. Fauliot, G. Thuillier, and M. Hersé

Abstract. The MICADO instrument, consisting of a Michelson interferometer, has observed winds and temperatures during three winter campaigns in the auroral zone, and during 2 years at the Observatoire de Haute-Provence. The instrument observed the O(1S) oxygen emission line. Emission from this line originates from both the E- and F-regions. A method to separate the contribution from these two regions is presented for cases when the thermospheric component is comparable to that for the mesosphere. For the auroral latitudes, a mean model of the meridional and zonal neutral wind components as a function of magnetic activity and time is presented and compared to predictions from recent empirical models. For the mid-latitudes, several properties of the semi-diurnal tides are shown and compared to radar observations and predictions from recent theoretical models.