Sodium Lidar Set Up At India's National MST Radar Facility

CLIMATE SCIENCE

"The occurrence of sporadic layers of neutral sodium and other metals at around 100 km heights is a phenomenon that is both interesting and puzzling. The shooting meteors are the genesis for the formation of atmospheric metal layers."

Gadanki, India (SPX) Jan 24, 2005
The National MST Radar Facility at Gadanki near Thirupati, under the Department of Space, has set up a Sodium Lidar, which is a ground based instrument for studying vertical and temporal structure of mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) region.

This is the first of its kind in India and will help in characterising the wind and wave induced sodium density. The first observation from the new Sodium Lidar was made on January 10, 2005.

The occurrence of sporadic layers of neutral sodium and other metals at around 100 km heights is a phenomenon that is both interesting and puzzling. The shooting meteors are the genesis for the formation of atmospheric metal layers.

As meteors enter the atmosphere, they burn-up or ablate and leave debris in their path. This ablation occurs near altitudes of 80 to 100 km.

Part of this debris is neutral metal atoms and ions such as sodium, iron, potassium and calcium, which exist in this unique region as the air is thin for them to be trapped in compounds with oxygen but too thick to allow ionisation of all the neutral atoms into ions. This region of the atmosphere also hosts the airglow layers.

Metal atoms are useful for remote sensing as they are shiny at specific resonant wavelengths. For atmospheric sodium this resonant wavelength is 589 nm, which appears as bright orange. Atmospheric sodium layer acts as tracers of winds and waves in this region.

National MST Radar Facility is one of the prime centers for advanced research in atmospheric sciences. In addition to the state of art Mesosphere-Stratosphere-Troposphere (MST) radar, it has facilities such as the Lower Atmospheric Wind Profiler and Rayleigh/Mie Lidar.

Very recently, Raman Lidar and Boundary Layer Lidar were set up. These facilities complement and supplement the MST radar for an integrated and comprehensive study of lower, middle and upper atmosphere.

Sodium Lidar has further enhanced the scope of atmospheric research at this national facility.

EARTH OBSERVATION

India To Launch Two Satellites

New Delhi, India (SPX) Jan 17, 2005
India will put into space two satellites- one for mapping and other with multiple uses- by May-June, the chief of the country's space agency said in Bangalore last Friday, according to Indo-Asian News Service.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.