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Studies of the upper atmosphere have to be performed using optical photometric and spectrometric means. Modern devices allow precise photometry of the glow of the night atmosphere — airglow — with high temporal spatial and spectral resolution. As a result, the obtained airglow parameters make it possible to determine the physicochemical properties of the upper atmosphere and observe their variation under the influence of various factors. The National Heliogeophysical Complex, which is being created in Eastern Siberia, is therefore to include a certain set of modern optical instruments. The paper presents the main phenomena that will be investigated by the optical instruments of the complex, provides information on their composition and scientific goals, presents the results of preliminary studies performed using a prototype of the instruments. As a result of the studies, the presence of a significant (about 10 m/sec) vertical wind at various altitudes (100 and 250 km) was established, the importance of taking into account the vertical wind to study the vertical dynamics of the charged component was demonstrated. The long-term dynamics of the vertical wind at an altitude of about 100 km has a pronounced seasonal variations and the absence of diurnal variations, whereas the dynamics of the vertical wind at an altitude of 250 km has a pronounced diurnal variations, which is mostly clearly defined in winter. This suggests the presumed presence of vertical circulation cells at various altitude levels. The possibilities of optical stereoscopy and differential image analysis methods are demonstrated, as applied to the study of fast luminous formations and conducting active ground and space experiments to modify Earth's ionosphere. We report the results of the determination of a three-dimensional picture of a long-lived meteor track with the use of two wide-angle cameras. We propose an algorithm that allows us to get a stereo image of events occurring in the upper atmosphere, recorded simultaneously from different observation points. The joint work of the tools of this complex and the development of cooperation with third-party organizations are shown to be a good enough direction for further study of the vertical dynamics of Earth’s upper atmosphere and space weather phenomena.

An analysis is made of the nightglow behavior in the atomic oxygen 558 and 630 nm lines and in the spectral band of 360–410 nm over the region of East Siberia (52°N, 103°E) during the 16–18 November 2001 passage of the Leonids meteor stream. The spectral, cross-correlation and wavelet methods were used in analyzing the airglow variations. During the maximum phase of the 18 November 2001 Leonids meteor stream’s passage, time spectra of airglow variations (558 and 630 nm emissions) exhibited a change in the form of the spectral distribution function of oscillations, and an increase of the number and amplitudes of discrete frequency components in the range of short periods (5–100 min) as against the preceding days. Values of cross-correlation functions for time series of 558 and 630 nm emissions during separate time periods of 18 November 2001 were as high as ∼0.7–0.8, with time lags of 30–50 min. The characteristics of the oscillations identified in upper atmospheric emissions (amplitudes, periods, vertical phase velocities of wave disturbances) correspond to acoustic-gravity waves in the upper atmosphere. It is suggested that the enhancement of the acoustic-gravity wave amplitudes on 18 November 2001 could be caused by the Leonids meteor stream. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]