Space Weather: Platform for Ionospheric Instability Prediction-High Latitude Gradient Drift Instability

这是一项关于开发一个软件包的建议，该软件包在与随时间演变的电离层表示相连接时，将产生关于高纬度电离层不规则的增长和发展的定量信息。该软件包将把不规则增长和衰减的描述与时间相关的电离层模型连接起来。作为概念的证明，研究人员将开发一个模块，描述高纬度电离层中梯度漂移不稳定的增长率。指定磁通管上的不规则性分布及其时间历史将被计算并以图形显示。这些分布将与闪烁测量所得的分布进行比较。未来对这一不稳定性模型的更新将相对简单，因为该平台将被开发为具有与不稳定性模型的模块化接口。这项研究的首要目标是证明在大规模电离层模拟方面取得了足够的进展，以至于等离子体密度和电场结构中的梯度足以产生对全球范围内梯度漂移不稳定增长率下限的有意义的估计。

This is a proposal to develop a software package which, when interfaced to a time evolving ionospheric representation, will yield quantitative information about the growth and development of ionospheric irregularities at high latitudes. The software package will interface descriptions of irregularity growth and decay with a time dependent ionospheric model. As a proof of concept, the investigators will develop a module that describes the growth rate of the gradient drift instability in the high latitude ionosphere. The distribution of irregularities and their time histories on specified magnetic flux tubes will be computed and graphically displayed. These distributions will be compared with those obtained for scintillations measurements. Future updates to this instability model will be relatively straightforward because the platform will be developed to have a modular interface to the instability model. The overriding objective of this study is to demonstrate that adequate progress has been made in large-scale ionospheric modeling to the point that both gradients in plasma density and electric field structures are adequate to produce meaningful estimates of the lower limits to the gradient drift instability growth rate on a global scale.