LIDAR SOUNDINGS OF NOCTILUCENT CLOUDS AND TEMPERATURES DURING DAY AND NIGHT IN THE SUMMER MID-LATITUDE MIDDLE ATMOSPHERE

At the Leibniz-Institute of Atmospheric Physics in Kuhlungsborn (54 degrees N, 12 degrees E) we have developed a daytime capable Rayleigh-Mie-Raman (RMR) lidar for the mesosphere. Temperature soundings are feasible up to approximately 75 km during the day and up to 90 km during the night. Furthermore, measurements are performed at high solar elevation angles of up to similar to 60 degrees. In 2010 we performed first daylight observations, covering the whole June-July summer season. In this paper we present first results on absolute temperatures and their variation by e.g. gravity waves and tides. Daylight RMR soundings allow simultaneous observations of ice particles together with the OSWIN-VHF radar. OSWIN observes so-called Mesospheric Summer Echoes which require a sufficient electron density beside the existence of ice particles.