Auroral Thermosphere Density Study
Abstract
An experiment will be performed using an existing network of Fabry-Perot Interferometers (FPIs) and radars (EISCAT and SuperDARN) in Arctic Scandinavia. The FPIs will measure thermospheric winds and temperatures, and the radars will measure the plasma properties of the auroral ionosphere. This case study will be one of the few large-scale ion-neutral coupling experiments covering the auroral and polar cap region, which is around 2,000 km in latitudinal extent, centred on the magnetic north and south poles. A preliminary observational study using FPI and SuperDARN radar climatologies has already identified persistent heating structures in the auroral oval caused by frictional heating. What is surprising is that geomagnetically quiet levels produce more heating than active conditions. The case study measurements of the new experiment will be used to constrain the UCL Coupled Middle Atmosphere Thermosphere (CMAT2) model, which is a physics-based numerical global circulation atmospheric model. We will use the CMAT2 model to disentangle the contribution of frictional heating from solar tidal heating. In this short study, we will create a set of model simulations to present to colleagues who are experts in satellite orbit determination to estimate the size of orbit perturbations from persistent structures. The CMAT2 set can then be used to compare with conventional satellite drag models.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Feb 06, 2017
- Source ID
- FA95501710019
Entities
People
- Anasuya Aruliah
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- United States Air Force
- University College London