Potassium Doppler-resonance lidar for the study of the mesosphere and lower thermosphere at the Arecibo Observatory

We have developed a lidar to study the temperature structure of the nighttime mesopause region over the Arecibo Observatory (18.35degreesN, 66.75degreesW) by measuring the lineshape of the fluorescence spectrum of atomic potassium that is deposited in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) by meteors. To demonstrate how the potassium lidar can enhance MLT studies at Arecibo, we show recent results for: (1) comparisons with airglow temperature measurements; (2) simultaneous operations with stratospheric and mesospheric temperature profiling by Rayleigh lidar; (3) simultaneous observations of K, Ca+, and E-region electron density profiles; and (4) occurrences of sporadic K layers, and relationships to sporadic E layers. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.