Abstract
The first neutral wind measurements of the Winds Cross-Track (WCT)
instrument, taken during the recent Dynamo 2 campaign, are presented and
discussed. This campaign launched two sounding rockets with identical
payloads, each with a WCT on board, on different days in July, 2021 into
the lower ionosphere to characterize the strong, daytime meridional
currents of the global dynamo system and also the daytime neutral winds
in the lower thermosphere. The two rockets reached apogees of
~124 and ~131 km, and the WCT took
measurements above ~80 km on both the up- and downleg of
both flights. As the rocket traveled through the atmosphere, the neutral
gas was rammed into the instrument, where an ionization gauge measured
the gas pressure. By modulating the incoming flux with a rotating
baffle, the WCT measured the components of the neutral wind vector
perpendicular to the trajectory of the rocket as well as the gas
temperature. These in-situ wind and temperature profiles will be
compared to the wind profiles observed remotely by the ICON satellite,
which was in conjunction with the launch of both Dynamo 2 rockets.