Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Over the last 25 years, I have built up networks of research radars with both Canadian national as well as international coverage. These comprise a network of windprofiler radars within Canada for meteorological and weather-forecasting studies, and a network of meteor radars which span the Americas almost from pole to pole, including sites in the Arctic and Antarctica. They have been used, for example, in studies of weather, ozone transport, atmospheric waves and examination of severe weather like tornadoes. I have written key papers on buoyancy wave momentum flux forcing of the mean state, new radar designs using digital technology, analysis methods, large-scale diffusion in the stratosphere, polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE), and the internal structure of meteor trails.***In the next 5 years, I wish to truly capitalize on these radar networks. My objective is to continue working on various diverse but important areas of research, within the dual overlying themes of (i) radar methods and (ii) studies of lower- and middle-atmosphere dynamics. While this broad approach could be seen to be extensive, I have shown my ability to handle a wide range of topics efficiently and effectively [e.g., reference R16].***A unifying theme of these studies is the role of the middle atmosphere in space travel. Spacecraft must be launched through the middle troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere in order to reach space, and the winds, temperatures, turbulence strengths, buoyancy wave composition and general atmospheric structure in this region must be well understood in order to make safe launches. An example is the Space Shuttle Columbia incident in [e.g., Hocking et al., 2003; R27], in which the shuttle appears to have passed through an inversion layer just prior to its disintegration: while not the main cause of the accident, it may have exacerbated it. Recent interest in commercial space flight (e.g. SpaceX), including plans to fly between continents through lower space, have made real-time prediction of middle atmosphere conditions more vital.***Anticipated outcomes include: further integration of our windprofiler winds into numerical models, more frequent real-time web updates of current conditions, enhancement of our ability to study and forewarn of tornadoes, radar windprofiler comparisons with European Space Agency (ESA) ADM-Aeolus mission (http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Aeolus), buoyancy wave measurements of upper atmospheric forcing, diffusion processes in the stratosphere and mesosphere, PMSE investigation, and measurement of mesospheric ozone densities using radar. ***Key benefits include better forecasting capabilities in upper atmosphere dynamics (especially turbulence, waves, bores, and inversion events), thereby leading to improved safety for both stratospheric flight and spacecraft launches, and better warnings of severe weather events at the surface.**