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

这是开发一个软件包的提议，当与时间演变的电离层表示接口时，将产生有关高纬度电离层不规则性的增长和发展的定量信息。 该软件包将不规则增长和衰减的描述与时间相关的电离层模型结合起来。 作为概念证明，研究人员将开发一个模块来描述高纬度电离层中梯度漂移不稳定性的增长率。 将计算并以图形方式显示指定磁通管上的不规则性分布及其时间历史。 这些分布将与闪烁测量获得的分布进行比较。 这种不稳定模型的未来更新将相对简单，因为该平台将被开发为具有不稳定模型的模块化接口。 这项研究的首要目标是证明大规模电离层建模已经取得了足够的进展，等离子体密度和电场结构的梯度都足以对全球范围内梯度漂移不稳定性增长率的下限进行有意义的估计。

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.