CEDAR: Conjugate Studies of Low and Midlatitude Ionospheric Processes

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This project addresses electrodynamic processes in the Earth's ionosphere at low and mid-latitudes. These processes will be studied simultaneously in both hemispheres in the American sector from locations along the same geomagnetic field lines. Data from ground-based all-sky imagers and in-situ satellite measurements will be analyzed. The results of this study will be made broadly available, will help to understand how inter-hemispheric coupling occurs, and can be incorporated in global scale models of ionospheric electrodynamics, which are relevant to understanding Space Weather. This research will involve graduate and undergraduate students. Specifically, this project will investigate the behavior of ionospheric perturbations related to equatorial Spread-F (ESF) and medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). Observations include all-sky imagers and Fabry-Perot interferometers at magnetically conjugate locations in the American Sector. The generation mechanism of MSTIDs will be investigated using the conjugate measurements as well as data from the C/NOFS satellite.