Auroral Thermosphere with Nitrogen-Ion (N2+) Lidar and Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR)

用三台仪器对北极热层和E区电离层进行了采样，这三台仪器是一种新型的氮离子(N2)共振激光雷达、先进的模块化非相干散射雷达(AMICR)和位于阿拉斯加Poker Flat的子午线扫描光度计。这些测量数据与美国空军多物种电离层化学模型进行同化和模拟，以产生一组封闭的E区连续性方程，根据该方程，除了直接由激光雷达测量确定的80-300公里范围内的第一个距离分辨氮气密度剖面外，还确定了[O2]、[NO]和[NO]的数密度。这些N_2离子数据提供了比仅从非相干散射雷达(ISR)主体离子信息中提取的E区电离速率更准确的估计，并且NO数据被用于研究极光NO的生命周期。这项研究利用新的仪器技术实现了对极光E区二维离子形态的前所未有的采样(使用阿米西比R的电子束转向)，并利用391纳米的氮气共振前所未有地测量了氮气高度分布。

The Arctic thermosphere and E-region ionosphere is sampled with three instruments, a novel nitrogen-ion (N2+) resonant lidar, the Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter radar (AMISR), and a meridian scanning photometer at Poker Flat Alaska. The measurements are assimilated and modeled with the United States Air Force multispecies ionospheric chemistry model to produce a closed set of E-region continuity equations from which the number densities of [O2+], [NO+], and [NO] are determined in addition to the first range-resolved profile of N2+ density from 80-300 kilometer that is determined directly from the lidar measurements. These N2+ ion data provide more accurate E-region ionization rate estimates than can be extracted from the incoherent scatter radar (ISR) bulk ion information alone, and the NO data are used to investigate the life cycle of auroral NO. The research uses new instrument technology to achieve unprecedented sampling of two-dimensional ion morphology in the auroral E-region (using the electronic beam steering of AMISR), and unprecedented measurements of the N2+ altitude profile using an N2+ resonance at 391 nanometer.