BRAZIL
BR/INPE/DAE/FISAT
The Upper Atmosphere Research group belongs to the Aeronomy Division (DAE) of the Brazilian National Space Research Institute (INPE). FISAT's research activities started in 1968, monitoring the stratospheric aerosol layer with a ruby LIDAR. In 1972 the group started to measure the sodium in the upper mesosphere-lower thermosphere. These activities continue until now and additionally temperature and density measurements in the stratosphere and mesosphere by the Rayleigh scattering started in 1993 and also measurements of the atmospheric temperature from 80-to-100 km by the sodium Doppler technique. The group also develops research with rocket-borne instruments and beginning in 1999 started research on the dynamics of the upper mesosphere with a meteor radar. Website: "http://www.laser.inpe.br/fisat/" [Summary provided by the by Brazilian National Space Research Institute (INPE), Aeronomy Division]