CEDAR: Winds Over Africa - Investigation of Thermospheric Dynamics via Multi-site, Multi-instrument Observations

热层中的风强烈影响粘度和电气化特性。这些参数反过来调节阻力和无线电波的传播。该提案旨在加强一套对非洲大陆上空热层风的基线测量。这些数据将与北美和南美的类似测量数据一起使用，以阐明其纵向变化的物理基础。了解和理解热层风对于预测航天器轨迹以及全球导航和通信系统的无缝运行非常重要。根据该合同，PI将在南非安装一个新的成像法布里-珀罗干涉仪（FPI），以补充现有的FPI阵列，覆盖非洲赤道至中纬度地区，以及跨越全球的经度。研究目标是：a)了解热层风的纵向变化；B)对大气散射对风测量的影响进行定量评估；c)验证在非洲广泛使用的水平风模型。这一提议将提供一个采样不足的地区（南半球）的风，这将证实即将到来的电离层连接（ICON）探测器的风测量。其他更广泛的影响包括扩大雪松数据库，以及在伊利诺伊大学和非洲培训研究生。

Winds in the thermosphere strongly influence viscosity and electrification properties. These parameters in turn modulate drag forces, and the propagation of radio waves. This proposal aims to enhance a baseline set of thermospheric wind measurements over the African continent. These data will be used together with similar measurements over North and South America to elucidate the physics underlying their longitudinal variations. Knowledge and understanding of thermospheric winds are important for predicting spacecraft trajectories, and for seamless operation of global navigation and communication systems.Under this award, the PI will install a new Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) in South Africa to supplement an existing array of FPIs, covering equatorial- to mid-latitudes in Africa, and longitudes spanning the globe. Research goals are to a) understand the longitudinal variations in thermosphere winds; b) provide a quantitative assessment of the effects of atmospheric scattering on wind measurements; and c) validate the widely-used Horizontal Wind Model over Africa. This proposal will provide winds in a vastly undersampled area (the southern hemisphere) that will corroborate the upcoming Ionospheric CONnection (ICON) explorer wind measurements. Additional broader impacts include augmenting the CEDAR (Madrigal) database, and graduate student training at UIUC and in Africa.