ANGEO Annales Geophysicae ANGEO 1432-0576 Copernicus GmbH Göttingen, Germany 10.5194/angeo-22-367-2004 Mesopause dynamics from the scandinavian triangle of radars within the PSMOS-DATAR Project Manson A. H. 1 Meek C. E. 1 Hall C. M. 2 Nozawa S. 3 Mitchell N. J. 4 Pancheva D. 5 Singer W. 6 Hoffmann P. 6 Institute of Space and Atmospheric Studies, University of Saskatchewan, Canada Tromsø Geophysical Observatory, University of Tromsø, Norway Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory, University of Nagoya, Japan Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Bath, UK Department of Physics, University of Wales, UK Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Kühlungsborn, Germany 01 01 2004 22 2 367 386 This is an open-access article ditributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. This article is available from http://www.ann-geophys.net/22/367/2004/angeo-22-367-2004.html The full text article is available as a PDF file from http://www.ann-geophys.net/22/367/2004/angeo-22-367-2004.pdf

The "Scandinavian Triangle" is a unique trio of radars within the DATAR Project (Dynamics and Temperatures from the Arctic MLT (60–97km) region): Andenes MF radar (69°N, 16°E); Tromsø MF radar (70°N, 19°E) and Esrange "Meteor" radar (68°N, 21°E). The radar-spacings range from 125-270km, making it unique for studies of wind variability associated with small-scale waves, comparisons of large-scale waves measured over small spacings, and for comparisons of winds from different radar systems. As such it complements results from arrays having spacings of 25km and 500km that have been located near Saskatoon. Correlation analysis is used to demonstrate a speed bias (MF smaller than the Meteor) between the radar types, which varies with season and altitude. Annual climatologies for the year 2000 of mean winds, solar tides, planetary and gravity waves are presented, and show indications of significant spatial variability across the Triangle and of differences in wave characteristics from middle latitudes.<p> <b>Key words:</b> Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; waves and tides: instrument and techniques)