CEDAR: Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) Measurements of Flow Bursts and Relations to Auroral Electrodynamics

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This project is to investigate the electrodynamical coupling between the magnetosphere and ionosphere using a combination of ground-based optical and radar remote sensing of the high latitude ionosphere with measurements of the inner plasma sheet acquired by the THEMIS spacecraft. This work will create empirical maps of bursts of enhanced flows, localized near the Harang discontinuity region of the ionospheric convection electric field, and assess the relationship of the flow bursts with auroral and magnetospheric activity, specifically including auroral poleward boundary intensifications, north-south auroral structuring, polar cap convection, and the timing of substorm onset. Ground-based instrumentation to be used includes incoherent scatter radars (Sondrestrom, AMISR, and RISR), SuperDARN radars, and magnetometer and all-sky imaging arrays. The goal of this effort is to provide empirical tests of a potential solution to the long-standing problem of substorm onset timing.