Initial spring temperature profiles of the mesopause region over Fort Collins,CO, measured by the Colorado State Na temperature lidar

After its first measurement in late August, 1989, the new Na temperature lidar has been in operation during springs 1990 and 1991 at Fort Collins, CO. A total of nine nights (over 2600 profiles) of mesopause temperature measurements, each for a period longer than 4 hours, have been taken. We present these high quality initial profiles which demonstrate the effectiveness of the new two-frequency narrowband lidar technique for mesopause temperature measurements. The average temperature profiles suggest that the spring mesopause temperatures range from 168 K to 205 K. The mesopause heights are around 88 km before the midnight and around 99 km after the midnight. The nightly averaged temperature profiles in the mesopause region display considerable variability. The richness in new geophysical information obtainable with a Na temperature lidar is made evident by noting strong perturbations in a short time scale (15 min) in the data taken on March 11, 1990 and March 18, 1991.