NSWP: Space Weather--An Examination of Short Term Forecasting of Equatorial Spread-F Using a Longitudinal Chain of Wind Measuring Fabry-Perot Interferometers

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The role of neutral winds in triggering and subsequently forecasting equatorial spread-F is determined using a longitudinal chain of three Fabry-Perot interferometers located at Carmen Alto, Peru, Cachoeira Paulista, Brazil, and Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. Simultaneous measurements of zonal winds just below the F-region ionospheric peak are made using well-established Fabry-Perot interferometer instrumentation sampling the Doppler profile of the OI (630nm) nightglow emission. Peru and Brazil instrumentation is completed and installed in the first research year, and Ascension Island is instrumented in research year three. The measurements determine the climatology of the nighttime F-region neutral winds near the magnetic equator. Zonal wind gradients in a sixty-degree swath of longitude are correlated to the onset and expansion of equatorial spread-F, and concomitant radio scintillations. Neutral winds are a key parameter to include in a focused effort by the National Space Weather Program to forecast equatorial scintillations. The wind measurements coincide with the presence of the C/NOFS satellite, dedicated to the forecast effort.