CEDAR: The Climatology and Causal Mechanisms of the Early Morning Upward Plasma Drift at Equatorial Latitudes

CEDAR：赤道纬度清晨向上等离子体漂移的气候学和因果机制

• 批准号: 1243129
• 负责人: Tzu-Wei Fang
• 金额: $ 23.01万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-05-15 至 2019-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1243129&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: CEDAR; Climatology; Causal; Mechanisms; Early

The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the mechanisms of equatorial electrodynamics in the pre-sunrise ionosphere. Strong upward plasma drifts have been observed by satellites and radars in the early morning hours at equatorial latitudes during the recent solar minimum. The investigators will analyze measurements from the C/NOFS satellite and the Jicamarca radar to infer the morphology (local time, longitudinal, and seasonal variations) of the early morning vertical drift. Comprehensive physical models, the Whole Atmosphere Model (WAM), the Global Ionosphere and Plasmasphere model (GIP) and the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Electrodynamic General Circulation Model (TIME-GCM) will be used to interpret the observations and to investigate the causal mechanisms of the early morning upward drift. The influence of the early morning upward drift on the thermosphere and ionosphere near dawn and in the daytime will also be estimated. The study combines observations, theory and modeling to achieve a better understanding of the dynamics of the upper atmosphere and the physical processes leading to the early morning upward drifts. The results will help improve the prediction of ionospheric irregularities, which cause GPS scintillation and radio communication outages in the equatorial ionosphere.

本研究的目的是更好地了解日出前电离层赤道电动力学的机制。 在最近的太阳活动极小期，卫星和雷达在清晨时分在赤道纬度观测到强烈的向上等离子体漂移。研究人员将分析C/NOFS卫星和Jicamarca雷达的测量结果，以推断清晨垂直漂移的形态（当地时间，纵向和季节变化）。综合物理模式，全大气模式（WAM），全球电离层和等离子体模型（GIP）和热层-电离层-中间层电动环流模式（TIME-GCM）将用于解释观测结果和调查清晨向上漂移的原因机制。还将估计清晨向上漂移对黎明附近和白天的热层和电离层的影响。 该研究结合了观测、理论和建模，以更好地了解高层大气的动力学和导致清晨向上漂移的物理过程。 这些结果将有助于改进对电离层不规则现象的预测，这些不规则现象会导致赤道电离层的全球定位系统闪烁和无线电通信中断。