Turbulent kinetic energy dissipation rates and eddy diffusivities in the tropical mesosphere using Jicamarca radar data

Abstract

The 50-MHz MST radar at Jicamarca Radar Observatory (JRO) can detect atmospheric turbulence on the Bragg scale of 3 m in the daytime mesosphere (∼60–85 km). Since 2002, the radar was operated for a certain number of days each year collecting 1-min Doppler spectra in four off-vertical (2.5°) beam directions and 150 m resolution. The spectral widths have been used to compute the kinetic energy dissipation rate ε due to atmospheric turbulence. A small beam broadening effect has been removed from the observed spectral widths. The daily median energy dissipation rates ε increase from 5 to 30 mW/kg between 67 and 80 km, and the eddy diffusivities increase from 3 to 20 m2/s, consistent with similar studies conducted by two other large 50-MHz radars in Japan and India. The energy dissipation rates are about the same magnitude as the ε estimates for low-latitudes from a global model and are larger than the averages from rocket observations at high-latitudes, confirming previous comparisons.