This section explores and discusses the role of various physical mechanisms that can generate the ‘λ
image
’ structure observed in the lidargram (Figure 3) presented in the above section.
Role of dynamical instability and advection
In order to understand the occurrence of the ‘λ
image
’ structure in the lidargram shown in Figure 3, we assembled all available data to determine if we could identify a possible source of this structure. Atmospheric winds and temperatures in the MLT region are necessary to investigate the possible role of convective or dynamic instabilities. In the absence of wind measurement over/nearby Gadanki, zonal and meridional wind profiles over Thiruvananthapuram are used in the present investigation (location is shown in Figure 1). Based on the horizontal winds and SABER temperature profiles, the altitude variation of R
i
is derived at different times and found to be predominantly less than the canonical instability threshold of 0.25 during the 18:00 to 19:00 IST period (Figure 4c) - a condition which is conducive for the generation of KH billows. It is important to note that the average background wind above 92 km is northeastward with magnitude of approximately 58 m/s. As Gadanki is northeast of Thiruvananthapuram, the atmospheric background condition is suitable not only for generation of KH-billow structures but also for the (in this case necessary) advection of these billows towards Gadanki. As the beam-width of SKiYMET meteor wind radar is several tens of degrees (Hocking 2005), the derivation of horizontal wind profiles is necessarily averaged over a vast horizontal area of the MLT region. Hence, these winds are taken to prevail over a wide region in southern part of India (as is the SABER temperature determination) and thus that the KH-billow structure we suspect to have developed during 18:00 to 19:00 IST over Thiruvananthapuram to have been advected to Gadanki (possibly) without further modification till 23:00 IST. The important point here is that conditions are conducive for KH-billow formation and for advective transport of these structures from southern India to Gadanki.
It is to be noted that the volume-averaged meteor radar wind data is dominated by large-scale temporal changes instead of spatial changes within the observing volume. The changes in the horizontal wind during 18:00 to 19:00 IST (shown in Figure 5) suggest that the generation and the temporal evolution of the proposed KH-billow structure occur during this interval (to be discussed later in detail in Figure 6a). However, in the absence of strong shear in the horizontal wind after this time, it is assumed that the structure, thus formed, remains temporally less affected and is spatially advected in the northeastward direction as a result of winds in the direction leading to its appearance over Gadanki. Additionally, it is to be noted that the meteor radar, given the volume averaging, does not reveal any information on the KH-billow structure and only provides the information on the wind, one of the parameters for determining dynamical instability. The generation and evolution of the KH-billow structure, as mapped into the Na profile, and its subsequent transport in nearly ‘frozen-in’ condition is only a proposition and not a proof. At the core of our argument, this hypothesis does appear to explain the Na lidar observation over Gadanki.
Given our hypothesis whether the KH billow will be transported by background wind to reach the Na lidar location can now be investigated further. Based on the horizontal background wind of approximately 58 m/s above 92 km averaged throughout the entire observational period (17:00 to 02:00 IST), the travel time for KH billow to reach Gadanki around - 600 km away from Thiruvananthapuram - is 3 ± 1 h. The uncertainty involved in estimating travel time is calculated based on the standard deviation of horizontal wind of approximately 17 m/s during entire observational period above 92 km. Interestingly, this travel time nearly matches with the time difference between the conjectured occurrence of KH billow (dynamical instability conditions) over Thiruvananthapuram and the appearance of the ‘λ
image
’ structure in the Na layer over Gadanki. Thus, based on these observations, it is reasonable to assume that the formation and advection of KH billows left a unique signature on the Na layer. It is also to be noted that λ
image
structure appeared in the Na layer during 21:30 to 22:00 IST (Figure 3) before the second wind reversal that occurred at 97 km during 23:30 to 00:00 IST (Figure 4), which would have no effect on the already formed λ
image
structure over Gadanki. A scenario for formation of the sodium ‘λ
image
’ structure due to KH billows is addressed next.
It is important to note that Na lidar records horizontally narrow vertical profiles of Na atom concentration as a function of time. Thus, the lidargram represents a time history of the vertical distribution of Na atoms in a narrow cylindrical volume over the lidar location. The lidargram of course includes the effects of neutral atmosphere dynamics on the Na layer as these atoms have a long lifetime relative to the evolution of atmospheric dynamics and they are collisionally well-embedded in the atmosphere. Based on typical electron concentration (approximately 3,000 electrons cm−3), Sarkhel et al. (2012a) estimated the rate at which the Na atoms ionize would be approximately 3 × 10−6 s−1, which corresponds to a lifetime of neutral Na atoms of more than a day. This is supported by Xu and Smith (2003) wherein they have shown that the chemical lifetime of mesospheric Na atoms is more than a day in the MLT region, which is much larger than the transport time considered in our hypothesis. Hence, any Na-layer temporal variation on the scale of a few hours is predominantly due to dynamical effects in the Na layer where background horizontal wind and its shear play important roles. Thus, any horizontal structures, generated in the observed vertical Na profile by winds, will be translated into temporal variations of lidargram.
Kane et al. (2001) describe ‘C-type’ structures observed in the Na layer on several occasions. They suggested this type of structure could be caused by wave breaking or KH billows and could be generated in the Na layer due to strong wind shear. However, Clemesha et al. (2004) argued that advection could possibly generate ‘C-type’ structures in the Na layer. They describe a scenario wherein any Na cloud advected with the horizontal wind can be elongated via the prevailing wind and will be manifested as a ‘C-type’ structure in the lidargram. The schematic diagram in Figure 7 explains how a KH-billow structure can imprint a ‘C-type’ structure in the lidargram. As described in the figure, the three points ‘A,’ ‘B,’ and ‘C’ on the billow whose curvature is facing towards the lidar beam will manifest as a ‘C-type’ structure. As discussed earlier, the lidargram represents a time history of vertical distribution of Na atoms over the lidar location. Hence, the point ‘A’ on the advecting billow will appear first on the observed ‘C-type’ structure relative to points ‘B’ and ‘C’ that occur later.
In the present investigation, R
i
remains less than 0.25 during 18:00 to 19:00 IST as a consequence of strong wind shear and hence indicates the possible generation of KH billow. The overturning shape of these billows also depends on the direction of winds. In order to test this hypothesis, we critically observe the direction of zonal and meridional wind profiles during the time of interest. The horizontal winds do reveal remarkable features. As shown in Figure 5, the zonal wind above 91 km is eastward and the meridional wind is northward during 18:00 to 18:15 IST and 18:45 to 19:00 IST. A significant wind reversal is observed at approximately 18:30 IST wherein the zonal wind is predominantly westward except for a altitude-narrow region near 94 km altitude where it is eastward (note again that the meteor radar winds are assembled over a relatively large volume). The meridional wind direction is unchanged during this time period. However, the meridional wind magnitude at 94 km is observed to increase to 68 m/s at approximately 18:30 IST - this is more than 1.5 times higher than that during 18:00 to 18:15 IST and 18:45 to 19:00 IST. Hence, the horizontal wind at 94 km is northeastward with higher magnitude and northwestward at other altitudes at 18:30 IST. This sudden wind reversal over a limited altitude region generates a strong wind shear. This interesting and perhaps unique phenomenon - that occurs over a significant volume - leads to the possible shape of the hypothesized evolving KH billow.
Figure 6 represents our schematic depiction of how a KH billow generated and evolving in the observed strong wind shear might result in the observed ‘λ
image
’ type structure. Again, note that the observed horizontal wind was northeastward above 93 km and northwestward below this altitude during the 18:00 to 18:15 IST period. That is, given the observed winds, the billow-overturning feature will face towards the northeastward as is sketched in Figure 6a. Then, the KH billows is subject to a wind reversal at approximately 18:30 IST that could produce an additional ‘fold’ in billow structure due to the net wind being northeastward at 94 km with a higher magnitude and northwestward elsewhere. As is well accepted in the literature that KH billows, generated within a particular altitude region, expand both horizontally and vertically. In the present case, we suggest that the KH billow is generated at approximately 93 km where we infer that R
i
< 0.25 - the wind reversal takes place just above the altitude region where the billows are likely generated. Additionally, the background winds during 18:00 to 18:15 IST period favor the evolution and expansion of this KH billow. In particular, when the extended portion of the billow encounters the wind reversal region, it - under our hypothesis - undergoes deformation due to the northwestward wind. This peculiar wind pattern at 94 km during 18:30 IST deforms the shape of the KH billow and creates a small bulge or outward notch at 94 km which is conceptually drawn in Figure 6a. This bulge will be eventually elongated outward due to strong wind shear experienced during 18:45 to 19:00 IST. The protruding notch will subsequently overturn as a consequence of shear and enhancement of the northeastward wind at the height region around the notch similar to the condition prevalent during 18:00 to 18:15 IST. The possible shape of the bifurcated KH billow at 18:45 to 19:00 IST is indicated in Figure 6a. The curvature of the elongated notch will be northeastward similar to the original curvature of the KH billow adjacent to the overturned notch. How this structure may be translated or mapped into a lidargram is indicated in Figure 6b. To summarize, we suggest that this deformed KH-billow structure, generated during 18:00 to 19:00 IST over Thiruvananthapuram region, was then advected in the northeastward direction having developed more folder that was revealed subsequently as it crossed the field-of-view of the Na lidar over Gadanki.
Given the observed wind structure, the deformed KH-billow traveling with mean speed of approximately 58 m/s will reach the lidar site after 3 ± 1 h. This study suggests that such conditions can last for a few hours, thus yielding an estimate of the lifetimes of the KH billow which is generated and deformed during 18:00 to 19:00 IST interval and can then be nearly ‘frozen-in’ and advected along with the mean wind in the absence of strong shears. Sarkhel et al. (2012a) observed similar billow-like structures in the Na layer over Arecibo, Puerto Rico. They concluded that strong wind shear made the region dynamically unstable and was likely responsible for the observed structure in the Na layer that were observed in the lidargram for about 3 h. This structure - while still evolving - would likely be transported some distance by the overall background wind.
Since the Na layer is embedded in the neutral atmosphere, any structure/instability created in the neutral atmosphere will also be mapped into the Na layer. As demonstrated in Figure 6, the KH billow whose curvature is faced towards the lidar beam will appear as ‘C-type’ structure in the lidargram. Since Gadanki is northeast of Thiruvananthapuram, a KH-billow structure, whose overturning shape is towards northeastward, will face towards the lidar beam. Hence, it will imprint a ‘C-type’ structure in the lidargram. As conceptually described in Figure 6a, the bifurcated KH billow that continues to ‘fold’ may develop a more complex structure facing towards lidar beam and may resemble the lidargram structure shown in Figure 6b. That is, these two adjoining ‘C-type’ structures, as a whole, then manifest a ‘λ
image
’ structure in the lidargram.
The detection of any Na layer structures depends on the chemical lifetime of Na atoms, which must be large compared to the typical time scale of the dynamical events. Thus, once a KH-billow structure is generated due to favorable background conditions, it should be traceable using a Na lidar. This conducive atmospheric condition is achieved when R
i
< 0.25 which, in turn, depends on the altitude profiles of horizontal winds and temperature. It must be noted that the meteor wind radar, which measures altitude profiles of the horizontal wind, is not capable of detecting KH billow directly. The meteor wind radar only indicates the presence of wide-scale wind shears necessary for the generation of KH billow. In order to detect KH-billow structures in mesosphere, an instrument such as Na lidar is needed. Hence, the fact that R
i
> 0.25 after 19:00 IST over Thiruvananthapuram does not necessarily mean that the KH billow, generated during 18:00 to 19:00 IST, has vanished. Instead, it may indicate that the background condition is simply not conducive for further generation of KH billows. Our hypothesis is that the KH-billow structure (and its effect on the Na layer), once generated, remains more or less intact in the atmosphere for, perhaps, a few hours. This hypothesis is supported by the previous observations of billows in the Na lidar data over Arecibo that were seen for at least 3 h of observing period (Sarkhel et al. 2012b). Such structures can move with the mean wind and reaches the Na lidar location where it is detected.
In the next subsections, we will be exploring other plausible scenarios which could be responsible for modification of the Na layer and thus creating the ‘λ
image
’ structure in the lidargram.
Role of gravity waves
The possible role of gravity waves in the generation of these structures is considered next. A steady increase in column density, between the base and top of the λ
image
structure (93 to 100 km) that continues to the end of the observation period is noted in Figure 3d. This feature might be related to long-period gravity waves with a dominant time period of fluctuation of approximately 88 min. However, the Na column density increases noticeably after the occurrence of the structure until 22:30 IST that may also indicate vertical overturning - due to the billows formation - whereby the Na content from the main layer is transported up into the region directly above. Whether this increase in Na abundance until 22:30 IST is due to gravity waves can be investigated. As revealed from Figure 3c, the sequence of Na concentration profiles on that night does not reveal any downward phase progression up to 23:30 IST in the altitude range of 93 to 100 km after the structure appeared. Hence, it seems unlikely that the increase in column abundance during 21:00 to 22:30 IST is due to the effect of gravity waves propagating through the main Na layer. It remains possible, or perhaps even likely, that this increased column content is associated with the creation of the KH-billow structure, a consequence of dynamical instability. Moreover, the main layer is centered around 90 km and shows the influence of wave activity during the entire observation. Thus, the λ
image
structure is not strongly related to the layer at 90 km and occurs only for short duration as compared to the main layer evolution. All these phenomena strengthen the hypothesis of the nearly ‘frozen-in’ KH-billow structure, which was created in the southwestern part of India due to appropriate atmospheric conditions and then transported along with the northeastward background wind which might have created the ‘λ
image
’ structure in the lidargram over Gadanki.
Role of sporadic-E activity
While we conclude that dynamical instability led to the observed λ
image
structure, the possible relationship between the Na λ
image
structure and E
S
is examined next. Clemesha et al. (2004) found weak correlation between these ‘C-type’ structures and E
S
. Their conclusion is that the wind plays a major role creating the structure instead of conversion of Na+ in E
S
to neutral Na. It is important to note that the region where the ‘λ
image
’ structure appeared is aeronomically very complex. The effect of atmospheric dynamics and Na ion-molecular chemistry is necessarily coupled together. The false color background gradient in Figure 6a schematically underscores the complex chemical/dynamical interplay in producing the Na distribution in the MLT. As the lifetime of Na+ ions below 90 km is a few seconds (Daire et al. 2002), the recombination of Na+ ions and electrons produces neutral Na atoms which are then embedded into the background atmosphere. Thereafter, the neutral Na layer follows the background atmosphere wherein dynamics plays major role. On the contrary, recombination of Na+ ions and electrons occurs slowly above 100 km. As a consequence, the lifetime of Na+ ions increases to a few hours at this height region. Thus, the neutral Na layer produced by neutralization of Na+ ions into Na atoms retains the memory of its ion layer and hence E
S
. That is, any structure related to Na+ ions will map into the neutral Na layer on a few hour time scale. Sarkhel et al. (2012a) observed high altitude (>102 km) billows in the neutral Na layer wherein they discussed that such structures in the neutral Na layer can be associated with the underlying ion layer during strong E
S
events for which ion concentration often exceeds 104 ions.cm−3. In the intermediate altitude region (90 to 100 km), we encounter the most complex interaction with both neutral Na and Na ions playing comparable roles. The lifetime of Na+ ions ranges from a few minutes to tens of minutes (Daire et al. 2002). Therefore, the neutral Na layer will have a limited memory of E
S
where the presence of sufficient wind shear can generate E
S
layers (e.g. Mathews 1998). That is, since the Na+ ions in the MLT region are partially collisionally coupled to neutral atmosphere, structures such as KH billows generated due to strong wind shear in the neutral atmosphere also may share features exhibited in E
S
layer structure. Thus, as the neutral Na layer and E
S
layers may share a common origin in the atmospheric wind system, it is difficult to exclude E
S
layer influence on the sodium distribution. In any case, with the absence of any ionosonde observations close to the lidar location during these observations, it is difficult to comment further on the occurrence/influence of E
S
layer over Gadanki region. Sporadic-E layers are related to the neutral enhancements via ion-neutral coupling (Raizada et al. 2011, 2012), any structure-like appearance of billow-like features are usually linked to dynamical instabilities (Sarkhel et al. 2012b). In order to address this aspect comprehensively, further investigations involving instrument clusters are needed (Mathews 1996).
The next subsections are dedicated to explain the valid assumptions that are used in the present investigation. The justifications behind such assumptions are also discussed in detail. We have also explored the limitations while formulating the hypothesis based on the available data set.
Assumptions and their justifications
We have necessarily calculated the time-resolved R
i
from temporally variable wind data and a snapshot temperature profile obtained approximately 600 km from the lidar site. We simply note the assumption that the temporal variation of temperature is not expected to be significant enough to alter the conclusion of the paper. As discussed earlier, the spatial variability between SABER 1 and 2 is not significant and this is taken as a proxy for changes, or rather the lack of change, in temperature with time. We have also verified the differences between the Richardson numbers derived using individual SABER 1, SABER 2, and average SABER 1,2 (which is already in Figure 4c) temperature profiles. We have observed that the R
i
's are different for different temperature profile during 18:00 to 19:00 IST. However, they still remain less than 0.25 above 92 km during the abovementioned time. Therefore, the assumption that the spatial variation between SABER 1 and SABER 2 temperature profiles is not significant is fairly justified and we have thus used the average SABER 1,2 temperature profile to calculate the Richardson number.
The work of Kishore Kumar et al. (2008) indicates that the average nocturnal temporal variation of temperature in the altitude range of 80 to 105 km is approximately 20 K during spring equinox (March and April) over southern part of Indian subcontinent. Friedman and Chu (2007) also report that the standard deviation of temperature at a given upper mesosphere altitude is less than 20 K and is due to tides during March over Arecibo (a low latitude station) - this is also not very significant. Since R
i
is calculated based only on snapshot temperature profile, there can be an additional variability in R
i
due to variation in temperature during the night. Owing to the lack of measurement of the temporal variation of temperature at a given altitude over Thiruvananthapuram, it is not possible to comment on the variability of R
i
due to the temperature variation. The present work is based on the assumption that the temperature does not change significantly during the interval of generation of the KH billow over Thiruvananthapuram and subsequent propagation to Gadanki.
Limitations
In addition, the limitation of the available data set does not allow us to study the influence of small-scale horizontal/vertical variability - due largely to acoustic gravity waves - for this case. Short-scale, wave-related variability may change the local temperature and wind fields. However, the data provided in the manuscript is the best available data set that can be used to study possible mechanisms for generation of the observed λ
image
structure. While we cannot rule it out, there is no evidence that the temporal/horizontal variation of temperatures is not significant. However, the altitude variation of temperature is important, along with wind shears, in creating instabilities. Therefore, the vertical temperature gradient is an important parameter as it is used to calculate Brunt-Väisälä frequency and Richardson number. As discussed earlier, Friedman et al. (2003) reports that the nocturnal temperature variation at a given altitude in the MLT region is small over the low latitude site, Arecibo Observatory (latitude: 18.6° N). Hence, we assume that temporal variation of the vertical gradient of temperature will also be small. Therefore, ignoring the temporal variation of the vertical temperature gradient at a given altitude in the MLT region is reasonable.
There are two other limitations in the present paper that could not be addressed due to lack of supporting observations. These are the possible effects of ‘field-aligned irregularity’ and ‘gravity wave ducting’. In the absence of collocated HF/VHF radar measurements, it is difficult to explore the impact of the field-aligned irregularities on the structures in the Na layer. The lack of imaging observations also does not allow investigation of the role of acoustic gravity wave ducting as horizontal phase speed and wavelength are unknown. A vertically propagating gravity wave can be ducted in a region where m2 > 0 (m is the vertical wave number) and is bounded by regions of evanescence (m2 < 0) (e.g., Walterscheid et al. 2000). However, Sarkhel et al. (2012a) inferred that the ducted gravity waves are unlikely to generate a particular frozen-in billow-like structure in the Na layer reported in that work.
Despite the obvious limitations, the present investigation strongly suggests the importance of dynamical phenomena such as KH instabilities in the upper mesosphere and their likely role in the generation of complex structures, such as the ‘λ
image
’ structure shown in Figure 3, in the Na layer. The multi-instrument observations reported here suggest how a bifurcated KH billow (and the embedded Na content) generated in the southwestern part of India due to wind shears - along with appropriate vertical temperature gradient - and advected by the background wind towards the northeast is consistent with the unusual structure observed in the Na layer. In the absence of measurements that are closely separated in space, the present explanation is only suggestive in nature.
Lifetime of the deformed KH billow
Despite the limitations due to the lack of cluster of instruments and coordinated measurements, our effort on the hypothesis of generation of the ‘λimage’ structure in the lidargram brings out an important parameter that should be addressed: the lifetime of deformed KH billow. Our investigation poses a question: Can the deformed KH billow have a few hours lifetime? As already discussed, Pfrommer et al. (2009) found clear evidence of KH billows in the MLT region using a high resolution Na lidar. However, they observed KH billows in the lidargram only for a few minutes. As described by Hecht et al. (2005), the lifetime of such KH billows is a few tens of minutes. Theoretical studies by Fritts et al. (1996) and Palmer et al. (1996) show that the lifetime and evolution of such KH billows and their subsequent dissipation are complex and far less understood.
In recent times, the Na lidar observations and investigations on the manifestation of the KH billows in the Na layer brought the attention among the researchers. A few observations of ‘C-type’ structures in the lidargram from different locations bring out the existence of KH billows in the Na layer (Kane et al. 2001; Sridharan et al. 2009). All the observations reveal that the lifetime of the structures is 30 min to 2 h. As explained by Clemesha et al. (2004), the occurrence of the ‘C-type’ structure in the lidargram is a result of wind-shear distortion of preexisting clouds of enhanced Na concentration. Kane et al. (2001) and Sridharan et al. (2009) suggested that KH billows play important role in the formation of ‘C-type’ structures that appeared in the lidargram. These observations indicate that the background wind and atmospheric conditions play crucial role in the evolution and sustenance of the KH billows in the MLT region. In the present case study, the KH billow has been hypothesized to be generated and deformed during 18:00 to 19:00 IST over Thiruvananthapuram. Further evolution and deformation of this KH billow was probably ceased due to the absence of strong wind shears. As a consequence, this KH billow is believed to get nearly ‘frozen-in’ the background wind and advected to Gadanki. In absence of the Na lidar measurements, the formation of KH billow over Thiruvananthapuram cannot be unambiguously established. Nevertheless, the wind observations over Thiruvananthapuram and the Na lidar observations over Gadanki provide credence to the proposition made in the present study. However, it remains to be confirmed whether favorable background conditions in the MLT region can help to sustain the KH billows for a few hours without significant decay. This communication poses an open question on the lifetime of KH billows in the MLT region. Further investigations including theoretical work along with systematic and coordinated measurements using cluster of instruments possibly can answer this.