Collaborative Research: CEDAR--Tomographic Array for Lightning and Ionospheric Studies (TALIS)

合作研究：CEDAR——用于闪电和电离层研究的断层扫描阵列 (TALIS)

• 批准号: 0836508
• 负责人: Gary Bust
• 金额: $ 8.55万
• 依托单位: ATMOSPHERIC & SPACE TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, L.L.C.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2011-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0836508&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; CEDAR; Tomographic; Array

In order to fully characterize the effect of lightning on ionospheric density structures, this project will deploy co-located ionosphere and lightning RF arrays at HF (1-30 MHz) for D- and E-region imaging, and VLF (0-500 kHz) and VHF (120-150 MHz) radars for lightning studies. The observational program will be augmented by computations from the Ionospheric Data Assimilation Four-Dimensional (IDA4D) model. The model will perform tomographic reconstruction of the ionosphere for heights extending from the E region to above using the observations obtained as well as other opportunistic E region data sources, most notably from the Los Alamos Portable Pulser (LAPP) with the Cibola Flight Experiment (CFE) satellite. The goal of these activities is to elucidate coupling processes between the troposphere and ionosphere, in particular the interaction between lightning and E region ionization enhancements known as sporadic-E. Current thinking suggests that there are two primary mechanisms that transport energy from the troposphere to the lower ionosphere: the first is mechanical wave activity and the second is electrical effects associated with lightning, including electromagnetic pulses and relativistic electrons. The mechanical coupling of waves may increase the peak plasma densities of sporadic-E layers before propagating into the F-region. Discharges from lightning couple electromagnetically and may increase the peak plasma densities by creating more long-lived metal ions from the ambient population of meteoric metal atoms found at these altitudes. However, very little is known about the electromagnetic coupling between lightning and the ionosphere, even though observations of Transient Luminous Events (TLE) indicate that interactions between thunderstorms and the middle and upper atmospheres do occur. The goal is to make significant progress in answering the following questions on ionosphere/troposphere coupling: (1) What is the coupling mechanism between lightning emissions and the development of sporadic E layers? (2) What is the relationship between lightning emissions and the variations of conductances in the ionosphere? (3) To what degree can we use measured RF values of the lightning emissions and characterization of the ionosphere to simultaneously model and analyze the physical characteristics of lightning emissions and the detailed structuring of the ionospheric response?

为了充分表征闪电对电离层密度结构的影响，该项目将在HF（1-30 MHz）中对D-和E区域的HF（1-30 MHz）进行共同置换的电离层和Lightning RF阵列，以及VLF（0-500 kHz）和VHF（120-150 MHz）（120-150 MHz）雷达（120-150 MHz）。 观察程序将通过电离层数据同化四维（IDA4D）模型的计算来增强。 该模型将使用获得的观测值以及其他机会性E区域数据源对电离层进行层析成像重建，以从E区域延伸到上方，最值得注意的是，来自Los Alamos Portable Porsable Pulser（Lapp），并使用Cibola Flight Flight实验（CFE）卫星。 这些活动的目的是阐明对流层和电离层之间的耦合过程，尤其是闪电与E区电离增强之​​间的相互作用称为散发性-E。 当前的思维表明，有两种主要机制将能量从对流层转移到较低的电离层：第一是机械波活性，第二个是与闪电相关的电作用，包括电磁脉冲和相对论电子。波的机械耦合可能会在传播到F-Region之前增加零星层的峰值等离子体密度。 通过电磁从闪电夫妇出发，可能会通过从这些高度发现的陨石金属原子的环境种群中产生更多长寿命的金属离子来增加峰血浆密度。 然而，尽管对瞬态发光事件（TLE）的观察表明，雷暴与中间和上层大气的相互作用确实发生了，但对闪电与电离层之间的电磁耦合知之甚少。 目的是在回答有关电离层/对流层耦合的以下问题方面取得重大进展：（1）闪电排放和零星E层的发展之间的耦合机制是什么？ （2）闪电排放与电离层电导变化之间有什么关系？ （3）我们可以在多大程度上使用闪电排放的RF值和电离层的表征同时建模并分析闪电排放的物理特征以及电离层响应的详细结构？