A technician from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics in Kiruna performed maintenance work on the atmospheric radar MARA at the Indian research station Maitri.
To date, the MARA atmospheric radar has been making measurements at the Swedish research station Wasa and at the Norwegian station Troll. The radar is currently located at the Indian research station Maitri. Moving MARA to new locations makes it possible to study how air is transported and mixed between different heights in the atmosphere under various conditions.
The measurements focus on four phenomena:
- how ice clouds (noctilucent clouds) at a height of 100 km above the poles are affected by anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide and methane;
- how particle streams and radiation from the sun affect the atmosphere at heights of 50–100 km;
- how ozone-rich air from the polar atmosphere mixes with the air nearer the ground; and
- how air from the ocean surface around Antarctica is lifted up and spread across large areas.
Principal investigator
Sheila Kirkwood
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna