Validation of imaging Doppler interferometer winds using meteor radar
There has been some debate over the years concerning the accuracy of mesospheric wind observations made using the imaging Doppler interferometer (IDI) technique. The high potential and increasing use of IDI wind data in joint studies with spaced-antenna MF and meteor radar systems make it important to quantify the IDI results. This paper presents a novel comparison of wind measurements between a dynasonde implementation of IDI and winds derived from an all-sky meteor radar system, a widely-accepted standard for such measurements. Both radars were located at the USU Bear Lake Observatory and operated almost continuously for a four-month period. The winds and tides derived from IDI were found to closely match those measured by meteor radar, not only during the day but also at night, and at all overlapping heights from 80–95 km.