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Clemesha et al. 2004
Clemesha, B.R., Batista, P.P., Simonich, D.M. and Batista, I.S. (2004). Sporadic structures in the atmospheric sodium layer. Journal of Geophysical Research 109: doi: 10.1029/2003JD004496. issn: 0148-0227.

The sporadic occurrence of layers of enhanced concentration of meteoric metals in the vicinity of the mesopause has been observed by lidar at many locations. These layers are much thinner than the background layer, last between a few minutes and many hours, and appear to be related to ionospheric sporadic E. A much more rare type of transient layer has been reported in the literature only once, by Kane et al. <2001>. The layers in question, observed in sodium by a lidar operating at Arecibo (18.3¿N, 66.7¿W), appear as C-shaped structures in the lidar height/time display. The structures, which have been observed at around 100 km, with durations around 30 min, appear not to be related to normal sporadic metals layers, and the Arecibo workers suggest that they might be produced by wave-breaking or Kelvin-Helmholtz billows. At S¿o Jos¿ dos Campos (23¿S, 46¿W) we observe C-structures in the sodium layer only very occasionally, but an analysis of their formation, together with simultaneous meteor winds measurements, suggests that the observed structures might be the result of wind-shear distortion of preexisting clouds of enhanced sodium concentration.

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Abstract

Keywords
Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Middle atmosphere—composition and chemistry, Atmospheric Composition and Structure, Middle atmosphere—constituent transport and chemistry, Ionosphere, Ionospheric irregularities, Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Middle atmosphere dynamics (0341, 0342), Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics, Waves and tides, sodium layer, sporadic layer
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research
http://www.agu.org/journals/jb/
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
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