Collaborative Research: Synergistic Merging of Traditional Aeronomy with Targeted High-Frequency (HF) Heating Diagnostics

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The work synergizes measurements at the incoherent scatter radar (ISR) facility at Arecibo Observatory (AO) to probe the ionosphere and the inner magnetosphere (or plasmasphere). These measurements shed light on ionospheric variability, and coupling between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. This coupling regulates the transfer of energy from the Sun to the Earth, and is subject to intense variability associated with solar activity. This proposal also includes broader impacts in the form of undergraduate mentoring through the NSF REU program.The key process to facilitate the research is the artificial stimulation of high-energy ("suprathermal") electrons using high-power high, frequency radiation at AO. Suprathermal electrons enhance naturally occurring nighttime plasma emissions (?lines?), and travel along geomagnetic field lines. Tracking the spectral characteristics of suprathermal electron beams yields insight into the variability of the ionosphere, and transport of energetic electrons from the plasmasphere to the midlatitude ionosphere. This process is currently not well understood, but is important for understanding geomagnetic storm-time midlatitude phenomena, and their potential to disrupt communication and navigational systems. The PI will also leverage ISR electron and ion temperatures and plasma drifts to measure traveling ionospheric disturbances, and the propagation parameters of the atmospheric gravity waves thought to trigger them.