Collaborative Research: CEDAR--A Focused Study of Sustained Upward Vertical Winds in the Auroral Zone

研究人员将使用以费尔班克斯附近的扑克平原研究范围为中心的多仪器观测活动的数据，研究与极光活动的软粒子沉淀相关的热层中持续向上垂直风（SUVW）的现象。这些风的速度超过每秒15米，并在几个小时内持续上升。它们之前通常会有一段时间的风速为20至30米/秒的下行风。垂直风远不是一个有趣的好奇心，它对理解高层大气复杂的动力学行为很重要。热层中的垂直风负责垂直质量输送，破坏分层并改变局部成分，这可能导致总体热收支的变化。了解这些持续垂直上升风的潜在来源将有助于预测其发生的全球分布及其对热层动力学的影响。这项研究将利用阿拉斯加中部极光区的大量关键仪器，这些仪器将产生全面的数据集，以确定极光输入和导致持续向上垂直风事件的大规模热层条件的特征。观测垂直风的主要仪器将是一套三台成像法布里-珀罗干涉仪，分别位于育空地区的扑克坪和阿肯色州的伊格尔，专门用于高频率天顶测量。相关仪器包括扑克平原非相干散射雷达（PFISR），一套四台扫描多普勒成像仪（SDI），位于扑克平原、加科纳、图里克野外站和AK的Kaktovik，扑克平原和远程观测站的全天空照相机和子午线摄谱仪。这项工作的更广泛影响将是通过参与分析天顶FPI仪器获得的数据，为技术研究的本科生提供培训和教育机会。

The investigators will use data from a multi-instrument observational campaign centered on Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, AK to study the phenomenon of sustained upward vertical winds (SUVW) in the thermosphere that are associated with the soft particle precipitation of auroral activity. These winds have speeds in excess of 15 meters per second and appear continuously upward over several hours. They are generally preceded by a period of downward winds with speeds of 20 to 30 m/s. Far from being an intriguing curiosity, vertical winds are important to understanding the complex dynamic behavior of the upper atmosphere. Vertical winds in the thermosphere are responsible for vertical mass transport, disrupting stratification and changing the local composition, which can lead to changes in the overall thermal budget. Understanding the underlying source of these sustained vertical upward winds will enable a prediction of the global distribution of their occurrence and their impact on thermospheric dynamics. The study will take advantage of a critical mass of key instruments in the auroral zone in central Alaska that will produce comprehensive data sets to characterize the auroral input and large scale thermospheric conditions leading to the sustained upward vertical wind events. The primary instruments for observing vertical winds will be a set of three imaging Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI), located at Poker Flat, Fort Yukon and Eagle, AK and dedicated to high-cadence zenith measurements. The contextual instruments include the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR), a set of four scanning Doppler imagers (SDI) at Poker Flat, Gakona, Toolik Field Station, and Kaktovik, AK, all-sky cameras and meridian spectrographs at Poker Flat and remote observing sites. The broader impacts of this work will be the training and educational opportunities for undergraduates in technical research by participating in the analysis of the data obtained by the zenith FPI instruments.