The project MAP/WINE: an overview

The project ‘Winter in Northern Europe (WINE)’ of the international ‘Middle Atmosphere Program (MAP)’ comprised a multinational study of the structure, dynamics and composition of the middle atmosphere in winter at high latitudes. Coordinated field measurements were performed during the winter 1983/1984 by a large number of ground-based, air-borne, rocket-borne and satellite-borne instruments. Many of the individual experiments were performed in the European sector of the high latitude and polar atmosphere. Studies of the stratosphere, on the other hand, were expanded to hemispheric scales by the use of data obtained from remotely sensing satellites. Hence, the results derived from the MAP/WINE data can be loosely divided into those related to (a) large scale (> 1000 km) processes, (b) structure and dynamics above northern Scandinavia (with scales between a few hundred kilometers and a few meters) and (c) trace constituents, including ionospheric components.This paper briefly reviews the scientific aims of the project, gives details of the field campaign and provides a synopsis of MAP/WINE results. An in-depth discussion of MAP/WINE results is contained in the subsequent 18 papers of this issue.