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The Chilean Observation Network De Meteor Radars (CONDOR) commenced deployment in June 2019 and became fully operational in February 2020. It is a multi-static meteor radar system consisting of three ∼ 1° latitudinally separated stations. The main (central) station is located at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO; 30.25° S, 70.74° W) and is used for both transmission and reception. The two remote sites are located to the north and south and are used for reception only. The southern station is located at the Southern Cross Observatory (SCO; 31.20° S, 71.00° W), and the northern station is located at the Las Campanas Observatory (LCO; 29.02° S, 70.69° W). The successful deployment and maintenance of CONDOR provide 24/7 measurements of horizontal winds in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere (MLT) and permit the retrieval of spatially resolved horizontal winds and vertical winds. This is possible because of the high meteor detection rates. Over 30 000 quality-controlled underdense meteor echoes are detected at the ALO site each day, and in total ∼ 88 000 events are detected each day over the three sites. In this paper, we present the configuration of the CONDOR system and discuss the validation and initial results of its data products. The motivations of deploying the CONDOR system also include combining measurements from other co-located ground-based instruments at the ALO site, which provide uniquely cross-validated and cross-scale observations of the MLT dynamics with multiple scientific goals. 

The cancellation factor (CF) is a model for the ratio between gravity wave perturbations in the nightglow intensity to those in the ambient temperature. The CF model allows us to estimate the momentum and energy flux of gravity waves seen in nightglow images, as well as the divergence of these fluxes due to waves propagating through the mesosphere and lower thermosphere region, where the nightglow and the Na layers are located. This study uses a set of wind/temperature Na lidar data and zenith nightglow image observations of the OH and O(1S) emissions to test and validate the CF model from the experimental perspective. The dataset analyzed was obtained during campaigns carried out at the Andes Lidar Observatory (ALO), Chile, in 2015, 2016, and 2017. The modeled CF was compared with observed CF values calculated using the ratio of wave amplitude in nightglow images to that seen in lidar temperatures for vertically propagating waves. We show that, in general, the modeled CF underestimates the observed CF results. However, the O(1S) emission line has better agreement with respect to the modeled value due to its supposedly simpler nightglow photochemistry. In contrast, the observed CF for the OH emission deviates by a factor of two from the modeled CF asymptotic value. 

Abstract An exceptionally strong westward propagating quasi‐6‐day wave (Q6DW) with zonal wavenumber 1 in connection with the rare 2019 Southern Hemispheric Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) is observed by two meteor radars at 30°S and is found to modulate and interact with the diurnal tide and gravity waves (GWs). The diurnal tide is amplified every 6 days and a prominent 21 hr child wave attributed to Q6DW‐diurnal tide nonlinear interaction occurs. Q6DW modulation on GWs is confirmed as the 4–5 day periodicity in GW variances. Simultaneously, the Q6DW appears to shift its period toward the periodicity of the modulated GW variances. Enhancement is also observed in the first results of meteor radar observed Q6DW Eliassen‐Palm flux, which may facilitate the global perturbation and persistence of this Q6DW. We conclude that the observed SSW triggered Q6DW‐tide and Q6DW‐GW interactions play an important role in coupling the lower atmospheric forcings to ionospheric variabilities.