Multi-Instrument Study to Investigate the Formation and Growth of Equatorial Irregularities
Abstract
From 2008 through 2011 this grant supported ground-based instrumentation in Peru and Chile to measure the neutral winds on the magnetic equator in an effort to test recent theories concerning the role that such winds play in the generation of equatorial spread-F [ESF]. The multi-instrument, multi-institutional, ground-based effort further supported the Air Force Communications/Navigations Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) program. At the end of the grant period, the first continuous measurements of the thermospheric winds have been made which show huge daily variability, indicating that the current use of empirical models in Air Force ESF forecasting models is insufficient in predicting synoptic ESF occurrence. There has also been an expansion on the observational capabilities of these instruments and this suite of instrumentation currently stand as the only means to measure thermospheric winds over a full 24-hour cycle. Two observational campaigns from 2001 were also conducted with the C/NOFS program and those results are currently in press.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 01, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA564074
Entities
People
- A. J. Gerrard
Organizations
- New Jersey Institute of Technology