Observations of the first meteorological rocket of the Meridian Space Weather Monitoring Project

On June 3, 2010, the first meteorological rocket of the Meridian Space Weather Monitoring Project was successfully launched at the Hainan rocket launch site (19.5°N), China. This paper analyzes the vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and wind recorded by the rocket and its supportive balloons, and investigates wind shear, gravity waves and atmospheric stability. In addition, we compare the vertical profiles of atmospheric temperature and wind with SABER/TIMED temperature measurements and the modeling results of MSIS00 and HWM07.