Characteristics of Horizontal Winds in the Mesosphere and Lower Thermosphere Region over Korean Peninsula Observed from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute Meteor Radar

Abstract

We present for the first time the characteristics of upper atmospheric horizontal winds over the Korean Peninsula. Winds and their variability are derived using four-year measurements by the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute (KASI) meteor radar. A general characteristic of zonal and meridional winds is that they exhibit distinct diurnal and seasonal variations. Their changes indicate sometimes similar or sometimes different periodicities. Both winds are characterized by either semi-diurnal tides (12 hour period) and/or diurnal tides (24 hour period) from 80–100 km. In terms of annual change, the annual variation is the strongest component in both winds, but semi-annual and ter-annual variations are only detected in zonal winds.