High-Latitude Ionospheric Structures and Dynamics - Physics, Modeling, and Applications

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Canada, as an Arctic nation and a society heavily dependent on modern technology, presents us with many challenges from scientific and economic points of view. In the modern, technologically-dependent society, one of the most important tools for economic development and the safety and security of citizens is reliable communication and navigation systems. The ionosphere, the ionized part of Earth's upper atmosphere, can significantly affect radiowave propagation (thus communication and navigation systems) in many ways (reflection, refraction, diffraction, Faraday rotation, and amplitude and phase fluctuations); therefore, knowledge of the state of the ionosphere and understanding its properties becomes critical when planning and setting up long-range, high-frequency (HF) systems and communication links, as well as navigation systems. Temporal and spatial variations of the Arctic ionosphere, caused by its direct interaction with the solar wind and magnetosphere ("space weather"), further complicates any attempt to plan and operate HF and navigation systems in this remote region, where alternative systems may not be available; therefore, improving our knowledge of the Arctic ionosphere is also crucial for the successful operation of these systems and ensuring communications and navigation capacities are available in this region. Through the proposed research, we seek to understand the generation, dynamics, and decay of polar cap ionization structures of varying scale sizes (both temporal and spatial) using the Expanded Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (ECHAIN) and satellite measurements. This understanding will help to model/mitigate ionospheric effects on these systems and enable us to develop a reliable ionospheric model for HF and navigation systems' application.