Polar mesosphere summer echoes

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Polar mesosphere summer echoes are strong signal power enhancements of scattering cross section at VHF radar frequencies in the range 50 MHz to 250 MHz, at times even to over 1 GHz, that occur between ~ 80 km and ~ 95 km altitude in summer at high latitudes. The peak PMSE height is slightly below the summer mesopause temperature minimum at 88 km, and above the noctilucent cloud (NLC) and/or polar mesospheric cloud (PMC) layer at 83-84 km. These strong radar echoes are associated with the extremely cold temperatures that occur above continental Antarctica during the summer. Rocket and radar measurements indicate that a partial reflection from a multitude of ion layers and constructive interference causes at least some of the PMSE.


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