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- ItemCharacteristics of the Quiet-Time Hot Spot GravityWaves Observed by GOCE Over the Southern Andes on 5 July 2010(Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2019) Vadas, Sharon L.; Xu, Shuang; Yue, Jia; Bossert, Katrina; Becker, Erich; Baumgarten, GerdWe analyze quiet-time data from the Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer satellite as it overpassed the Southern Andes at z≃275 km on 5 July 2010 at 23 UT. We extract the 20 largest traveling atmospheric disturbances from the density perturbations and cross-track winds using Fourier analysis. Using gravity wave (GW) dissipative theory that includes realistic molecular viscosity, we search parameter space to determine which hot spot traveling atmospheric disturbances are GWs. This results in the identification of 17 GWs having horizontal wavelengths λH = 170–1,850 km, intrinsic periods τIr = 11–54 min, intrinsic horizontal phase speeds cIH = 245–630 m/s, and density perturbations (Formula presented.) 0.03–7%. We unambiguously determine the propagation direction for 11 of these GWs and find that most had large meridional components to their propagation directions. Using reverse ray tracing, we find that 10 of these GWs must have been created in the mesosphere or thermosphere. We show that mountain waves (MWs) were observed in the stratosphere earlier that day and that these MWs saturated at z∼ 70–75 km from convective instability. We suggest that these 10 Gravity Field and Ocean Circulation Explorer hot spot GWs are likely tertiary (or higher-order) GWs created from the dissipation of secondary GWs excited by the local body forces created from MW breaking. We suggest that the other GW is likely a secondary or tertiary (or higher-order) GW. This study strongly suggests that the hot spot GWs over the Southern Andes in the quiet-time middle winter thermosphere cannot be successfully modeled by conventional global circulation models where GWs are parameterized and launched in the troposphere or stratosphere. ©2019. The Authors.
- ItemEvidence for the In‐Situ Generation of Plasma Depletion Structures Over the Transition Region of Geomagnetic Low‐Mid Latitude(Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2021) Sivakandan, M.; Mondal, S.; Sarkhel, S.; Chakrabarty, D.; Sunil Krishna, M.V.; Upadhayaya, A.K.; Shinbori, A.; Sori, T.; Kannaujiya, S.; Champati Ray, P.K.On a geomagnetic quiet night of October 29, 2018, we captured an observational evidence of the onset of dark band structures within the field-of-view of an all-sky airglow imager operating at 630.0 nm over a geomagnetic low-mid latitude transition region, Hanle, Leh Ladakh. Simultaneous ionosonde observations over New Delhi shows the occurrence of spread-F in the ionograms. Additionally, virtual and peak height indicate vertical upliftment in the F layer altitude and reduction in the ionospheric peak frequency were also observed when the dark band pass through the ionosonde location. All these results confirmed that the observed depletions are indeed associated with ionospheric F region plasma irregularities. The rate of total electron content index (ROTI) indicates the absence of plasma bubble activities over the equatorial/low latitude region which confirms that the observed event is a mid-latitude plasma depletion. Our calculations reveal that the growth time of the plasma depletion is ∼2 h if one considers only the Perkins instability mechanism. This is not consistent with the present observations as the plasma depletion developed within ∼25 min. By invoking possible Es layer instabilities and associated E-F region coupling, we show that the growth rate increases roughly by an order of magnitude. This strongly suggests that the Cosgrove and Tsunoda mechanism may be simultaneously operational in this case. Furthermore, it is also suggested that reduced F region flux-tube integrated conductivity in the southern part of onset region created conducive background conditions for the growth of the plasma depletion on this night.
- ItemMulti‐Point Measurements of the Plasma Properties Inside an Aurora From the SPIDER Sounding Rocket(Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2021) Giono, Gabriel; Ivchenko, Nickolay; Sergienko, Tima; Brändström, UrbanThe Small Payloads for Investigation of Disturbances in Electrojet by Rockets (SPIDER) sounding rocket was launched on February 2nd, 2016 (21:09 UT), deploying 10 free falling units (FFUs) inside a westward traveling auroral surge. Each FFUs deployed spherical electric field and Langmuir probes on wire-booms, providing in situ multi-point recordings of the electric field and plasma properties. The analytical retrieval of the plasma parameters, namely the electron density, electron temperature and plasma potential, from the Langmuir probe measurements was non-trivial due to sheath effects and detailed explanation are discussed in this article. An empirical assumption on the sheath thickness was required, which was confirmed by simulating the plasma environment around the FFU using the Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software (SPIS). In addition, the retrieved electron density and temperature are also in agreement with the simultaneous incoherent scatter radar measurements from the EISCAT facility. These two independent confirmations provided a good level of confidence in the plasma parameters obtained from the FFUs, and events observed during the flight are discussed in more details. Hints of drift-wave instabilities and increased currents inside a region of enhanced density were observed by the FFUs.
- ItemUsing Principal Component Analysis of Satellite and Ground Magnetic Data to Model the Equatorial Electrojet and Derive Its Tidal Composition(Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2022) Soares, Gabriel; Yamazaki, Yosuke; Morschhauser, Achim; Matzka, Jürgen; Pinheiro, Katia J.; Stolle, Claudia; Alken, Patrick; Yoshikawa, Akimasa; Hozumi, Kornyanat; Kulkarni, Atul; Supnithi, PornchaiThe intensity of the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) shows temporal and spatial variability that is not yet fully understood nor accurately modeled. Atmospheric solar tides are among the main drivers of this variability but determining different tidal components and their respective time series is challenging. It requires good temporal and spatial coverage with observations, which, previously could only be achieved by accumulating data over many years. Here, we propose a new technique for modeling the EEJ based on principal component analysis (PCA) of a hybrid ground-satellite geomagnetic data set. The proposed PCA-based model (PCEEJ) represents the observed EEJ better than the climatological EEJM-2 model, especially when there is good local time separation among the satellites involved. The amplitudes of various solar tidal modes are determined from PCEEJ based tidal equation fitting. This allows to evaluate interannual and intraannual changes of solar tidal signatures in the EEJ. On average, the obtained time series of migrating and nonmigrating tides agree with the average climatology available from earlier work. A comparison of tidal signatures in the EEJ with tides derived from neutral atmosphere temperature observations show a remarkable correlation for nonmigrating tides such as DE3, DE2, DE4, and SW4. The results indicate that it is possible to obtain a meaningful EEJ spectrum related to solar tides for a relatively short time interval of 70 days.
- ItemThe Meteoric Ni Layer in the Upper Atmosphere(Hoboken, NJ : Wiley, 2020) Daly, Shane M.; Feng, Wuhu; Mangan, Thomas P.; Gerding, Michael; Plane, John M.C.The first global atmospheric model of Ni (WACCM-Ni) has been developed to understand recent observations of the mesospheric Ni layer by ground-based resonance lidars. The three components of the model are: the Whole Atmospheric Community Climate Model (WACCM6); a meteoric input function derived by coupling an astronomical model of dust sources in the solar system with a chemical meteoric ablation model; and a comprehensive set of neutral, ion-molecule, and photochemical reactions pertinent to the chemistry of Ni in the upper atmosphere. In order to achieve closure on the chemistry, the reaction kinetics of three important reactions were first studied using a fast flow tube with pulsed laser ablation of a Ni target, yielding k(NiO + O) = (4.6 ± 1.4) × 10−11, k(NiO + CO) = (3.0 ± 0.5) × 10−11, and k(NiO2 + O) = (2.5 ± 1.2) × 10−11 cm3 molecule−1 s−1 at 294 K. The photodissociation rate of NiOH was computed to be J(NiOH) = 0.02 s−1. WACCM-Ni simulates satisfactorily the observed neutral Ni layer peak height and width, and Ni+ measurements from rocket-borne mass spectrometry. The Ni layer is predicted to have a similar seasonal and latitudinal variation as the Fe layer, and its unusually broad bottom-side compared with Fe is caused by the relatively fast NiO + CO reaction. The quantum yield for photon emission from the Ni + O3 reaction, observed in the nightglow, is estimated to be between 6% and 40%. ©2020. The Authors.
- ItemHistory of the Juliusruh ionospheric observatory on Rügen(Göttingen : Copernicus Publ., 2016) Weiß, J.The history of the Juliusruh ionospheric observatory on Rügen is closely connected to the history of ground-based ionospheric sounding. After a short introduction to the ionospheric research and the sounding technique, the founding of the Juliusruh station in 1954 and its development until today are described. The different methods of ground-based sounding – as far as they apply to Juliusruh – are briefly discussed. The condition of life and work in a small team on the island of Rügen, remote from the respective parent institute, is also the subject of this article, whose author headed Juliusruh Station from 1965 to 2004.
- ItemImpacts of acoustic and gravity waves on the ionosphere(Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2022) Zawdie, Kate; Belehaki, Anna; Burleigh, Meghan; Chou, Min-Yang; Dhadly, Manbharat S.; Greer, Katelynn; Halford, Alexa J.; Hickey, Dustin; Inchin, Pavel; Kaeppler, Stephen R.; Klenzing, Jeff; Narayanan, Viswanathan Lakshmi; Sassi, Fabrizio; Sivakandan, Mani; Smith, Jonathon M.; Zabotin, Nikolay; Zettergren, Matthew D.; Zhang, Shun-RongThe impact of regional-scale neutral atmospheric waves has been demonstrated to have profound effects on the ionosphere, but the circumstances under which they generate ionospheric disturbances and seed plasma instabilities are not well understood. Neutral atmospheric waves vary from infrasonic waves of <20 Hz to gravity waves with periods on the order of 10 min, for simplicity, hereafter they are combined under the common term Acoustic and Gravity Waves (AGWs). There are other longer period waves like planetary waves from the lower and middle atmosphere, whose effects are important globally, but they are not considered here. The most ubiquitous and frequently observed impact of AGWs on the ionosphere are Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (TIDs), but AGWs also affect the global ionosphere/thermosphere circulation and can trigger ionospheric instabilities (e.g., Perkins, Equatorial Spread F). The purpose of this white paper is to outline additional studies and observations that are required in the coming decade to improve our understanding of the impact of AGWs on the ionosphere.
- ItemThe future of auroral E-region plasma turbulence research(Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2022) Huyghebaert, Devin; Billett, Daniel; Chartier, Alex; Chau, Jorge L.; Hussey, Glenn C.; Hysell, David L.; Ivarsen, Magnus F.; Mesquita, Rafael L. A.; Rojas, Enrique; Vierinen, Juha; Young, MatthewThe heating caused by ionospheric E-region plasma turbulence has documented global implications for the energy transfer from space into the terrestrial atmosphere. Traveling atmospheric disturbances, neutral wind motion, energy deposition rates, and ionospheric conductance have all been shown to be potentially affected by turbulent plasma heating. Therefore it is proposed to enhance and expand existing ionospheric radar capabilities and fund research into E-region plasma turbulence so that it is possible to more accurately quantify the solar-terrestrial energy budget and study phenomena related to E-region plasma turbulence. The proposed research funding includes the development of models to accurately predict and model the E-region plasma turbulence using particle-in-cell analysis, fluid-based analysis, and hybrid combinations of the two. This review provides an expanded and more detailed description of the past, present, and future of auroral E-region plasma turbulence research compared to the summary report submitted to the National Academy of Sciences Decadal Survey for Solar and Space Physics (Heliophysics) 2024–2033 (Huyghebaert et al., 2022a).
- ItemImproving ionospheric predictability requires accurate simulation of the mesospheric polar vortex(Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2022) Harvey, V. Lynn; Randall, Cora E.; Bailey, Scott M.; Becker, Erich; Chau, Jorge L.; Cullens, Chihoko Y.; Goncharenko, Larisa P.; Gordley, Larry L.; Hindley, Neil P.; Lieberman, Ruth S.; Liu, Han-Li; Megner, Linda; Palo, Scott E.; Pedatella, Nicholas M.; Siskind, David E.; Sassi, Fabrizio; Smith, Anne K.; Stober, Gunter; Stolle, Claudia; Yue, JiaThe mesospheric polar vortex (MPV) plays a critical role in coupling the atmosphere-ionosphere system, so its accurate simulation is imperative for robust predictions of the thermosphere and ionosphere. While the stratospheric polar vortex is widely understood and characterized, the mesospheric polar vortex is much less well-known and observed, a short-coming that must be addressed to improve predictability of the ionosphere. The winter MPV facilitates top-down coupling via the communication of high energy particle precipitation effects from the thermosphere down to the stratosphere, though the details of this mechanism are poorly understood. Coupling from the bottom-up involves gravity waves (GWs), planetary waves (PWs), and tidal interactions that are distinctly different and important during weak vs. strong vortex states, and yet remain poorly understood as well. Moreover, generation and modulation of GWs by the large wind shears at the vortex edge contribute to the generation of traveling atmospheric disturbances and traveling ionospheric disturbances. Unfortunately, representation of the MPV is generally not accurate in state-of-the-art general circulation models, even when compared to the limited observational data available. Models substantially underestimate eastward momentum at the top of the MPV, which limits the ability to predict upward effects in the thermosphere. The zonal wind bias responsible for this missing momentum in models has been attributed to deficiencies in the treatment of GWs and to an inaccurate representation of the high-latitude dynamics. In the coming decade, simulations of the MPV must be improved.
- ItemPhysics in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere: A personal perspective(Lausanne : Frontiers Media, 2022) Lübken, Franz-JosefThe scope of this paper is to present some progress being made in the last few decades regarding some aspects of physical processes in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere and to point to some open questions. This summary is presented from a personal perspective, i.e., this is not a review of a certain science topic. Most citations reflect my own work or are representative examples only. They are not meant to be complete or comprehensive.