During the dark moon period in late August and early September, we ran these instruments for eleven straight nights. This longer run was meant to satisfy two purposes. First, it was designed to test the automated airglow data taking features that we once used in the past and recently re-implemented. Next, this experiment provided a training exercise for our new atmospheric data analyst and observer, Eva Robles, who completed her first three months of apprenticeship. Also in August, the sodium resonance lidar was operated for 4 nights around the peak of the Perseid meteor shower.
Data is still under analysis.
An example of a suspect meteor trail is shown in Figure 5. Meteor trail observations using sodium resonance lidar require a careful eye and patience. Even then, the interpretation is uncertain. Narrow, sharp layers which appear in several consecutive profiles are believed to be the result of a meteor which passed in the vicinity. The amount of time these trails stay in the beam depend upon their size, orientation, and speed.