Radar Studies of Low Latitude Electrodynamics

这项拨款支持对低纬度和赤道电离层和热层的研究。主要目的是了解高纬气流系统的低纬电动力漂移与低纬热层中性风的耦合。这些研究主要依靠赤道和低纬度非相干散射雷达和法布里-佩罗观测。阿雷西博天文台的电离层和原层研究将得到扩大，通过广泛的合作努力，当地和全球热层、电离层和对流模型的使用将大大扩大。建议的主要工作领域是：(1)控制高纬度电场穿透低纬度和赤道纬度的过程；(2)利用雷达观测和全球对流模式结果对电离层扰动电场进行对比研究；(3)低纬度和赤道等离子体漂移与中性风的耦合；(4)赤道热层的日变率和两日振荡对赤道电离异常的影响；(5)阿雷西博上空高时间分辨率等离子体漂移测量；(6)低纬度上层电离层和原层组成；(7)中低纬度电离层电场的经验模拟。

This grant supports studies of the low latitude and equatorial ionosphere and thermosphere. The main objectives are the understanding of the coupling of low latitude electrodynamic drifts of high latitude current systems and low latitude thermospheric neutral winds. These studies rely mostly on equatorial and low latitude incoherent scatter radar and Fabry- Perot observations. Ionospheric and protonospheric studies at the Arecibo Observatory will be expanded, and through extensive collaborative efforts the use of local and global thermospheric, ionospheric and convection models will be greatly extended. The main areas of proposed work are: (1) processes controlling the penetration of high latitude electric fields to low and equatorial latitudes, (2) comparative studies of ionospheric disturbance electric fields using radar observations and results from global convection models, (3) coupling of low latitude and equatorial plasma drifts and neutral winds, (4) day-to-day variability and the effects of the two-day oscillation in the equatorial thermosphere and on the equatorial ionization anomaly, (5) high temporal resolution plasma drift measurements over Arecibo, (6) composition of the low latitude topside ionosphere and protonosphere, and (7) empirical modeling of the ionospheric electric fields at middle and low latitudes.