While the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Svalbard Radar (ESR) has been in operation for some years now, it was only during the summer of 1998 that clutter contamination in mesospheric signals was successfully removed. Prior to this, it was found that one could measure velocity as low as 90 km altitude by pointing the antenna at low elevation. Subsequent to the clutter elimination we have obtained velocity information at least as low as 80 km. Using this technique to obtain horizontal velocities, we have performed tentative spectral analyses that suggest similar gravity wave energy dissipation to that reported from similar mid-latitude observations. Although, for technical reasons, only 9 hours of data were obtained on this occasion, these latest results represent the first of their kind from Svalbard, and the spectra of horizontal mesospheric winds appear to be the first to be determined at such high latitude. ¿ 1999 American Geophysical Union