Continuing Theoretical Studies of Dynamical Processes in the Ionosphere

该项目将调查有关等离子体和中性气体传输过程对电离层及其周围区域的影响的几个研究课题。除了地基雷达和磁力计的辅助数据外，该方法还以依赖时间的、高分辨率的、基于物理的理论和同化模型为基础，特别是扑克平台和决议湾非相干散射雷达。正在调查的科学问题涉及电离层、热层、外逸层、等离子体层、极风以及与这些区域有关的耦合机制。该项目的一个重点目标是利用高纬度电离层电动力学变量的集合卡尔曼滤波，更好地了解中尺度等离子体结构对全球尺度流动的影响。其他具体专题包括：大气对最近极端太阳周最小阶段和零星空间气象事件的反应；电离层扰动的产生和演变；以及大气层波的气候学。

This project will investigate several research topics on the effects of plasma and neutral gas transport processes on the ionosphere and surrounding regions. The methodology is based on time-dependent, high-resolution, physics-based theoretical and assimilative models in addition to auxiliary data from ground-based radars and magnetometers, particularly the Poker Flat (PFISR) and Resolute Bay (RISR) incoherent scatter radars. The scientific problems under investigation pertain to the ionosphere, thermosphere, exosphere, plasmasphere, polar wind, and to coupling mechanisms relevant to these regions. A focused goal of the project is to better understand the effect of mesoscale plasma structures on global-scale flows using ensemble Kalman filtering of high-latitude ionospheric electrodynamical variables. Other specific topics include: the atmospheric response to the recent extreme solar cycle phase minimum and to sporadic space weather events; the generation and evolution of ionospheric disturbances; and the climatology of atmospheric waves.