Dawn and dusk sector comparisons of small-scale irregularities, convection, and particle precipitation in the high-latitude ionosphere
نویسندگان
چکیده
[1] Small-scale ionospheric irregularities and auroral precipitation are common features of the auroral ionosphere, but their spatial association has not been examined on global scales. In this paper, we compare electron and ion precipitation from individual passes of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft with concurrent observations of ionospheric irregularities and plasma convection from the Northern Hemisphere component of the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Because of the nature of the DMSP orbits and the spatial resolution of the SuperDARN measurements these comparisons have been limited to the dusk and postdawn sectors and spatial dimensions greater than 100 km. We have found that the SuperDARN radars generally observe ionospheric irregularities over a greater latitudinal extent than the DMSP satellites observe particle precipitation. Specifically, ionospheric irregularities are observed both equatorward and poleward of the convection reversal boundary (CRB) in the dawn and dusk sectors, whereas particle precipitation is only observed equatorward of the CRB. Under conditions where the radars can detect the true equatorward boundary of the irregularities, they are observed to extend equatorward of the particle precipitation. Both irregularities and particle precipitation expand equatorward with increasing geomagnetic activity, and there is evidence that precipitation regions with higher energy flux are associated with regions of stronger sunward convection. These results suggest that SuperDARN can provide a coarse determination of the auroral-oval position that will complement measurements with optics and particle detectors. More importantly, they demonstrate the spatial relationships between precipitation, electric fields, and ionospheric irregularities that result from the electrical coupling between the magnetosphere and ionosphere and the dependence of ionospheric plasma instabilities on the ionospheric electric field and precipitation-induced electron-density gradients.
منابع مشابه
Comparison of SuperDARN radar boundaries with DMSP particle precipitation boundaries
[1] Auroral boundary algorithms for SuperDARN ionospheric convection observations are introduced. Both the equatorward boundary of scatter (EBS) and the convection reversal boundary (CRB) are found and compared with boundaries based on DMSP particle precipitation observations. These comparisons provide an intercalibration between the two schemes and insight into the relationship between dispara...
متن کاملModelling high-latitude electron densities with a coupled thermosphere-ionosphere model
A few of the difficulties in accurately modelling high-latitude electron densities with a large-scale numerical model of the thermosphere and ionosphere are addressed by comparing electron densities calculated with the Coupled Thermosphere-Ionosphere Model (CTIM) to EISCAT data. Two types of simulations are presented. The first set of simulations consists of four diurnally reproducible model ru...
متن کاملOn the Reversal from “Sunward” to “Antisunward” Plasma Convection in the Dayside High Latitude Ionosphere
Preliminary observations of dayside high latitude ionospheric plasma convection with the Sondrestrom incoherent-scatter adar indicate that plasma can be observed to enter the polar cap region through rotational reversals at most local times between dawn and dusk and not just in a narrow region around noon. Assuming that rotational reversals are signatures of a solar wind-magnetosphere interacti...
متن کاملHigh-latitude HF Doppler observations of ULF waves: 2. Waves with small spatial scale sizes
The DOPE (Doppler Pulsation Experiment) HF Doppler sounder located near Tromsù, Norway (geographic: 69.6°N 19.2°E; L = 6.3) is deployed to observe signatures, in the high-latitude ionosphere, of magnetospheric ULF waves. A type of wave has been identi®ed which exhibits no simultaneous ground magnetic signature. They can be subdivided into two classes which occur in the dawn and dusk local time ...
متن کاملStructure of the auroral precipitation region in the dawn sector: relationship to convection reversal boundaries and field-aligned currents
Simultaneous DMSP F7 and Viking satellite measurements of the dawnside high-latitude auroral energy electron and ion precipitation show that the region of the low and middle altitude auroral precipitation consists of three characteristic plasma regimes. The recommendation of the IAGA Working Group IIF/III4 at the IAGA Assembly in Boulder, July 1995 to decouple the nomenclature of ionospheric po...
متن کامل