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

这项工作协同阿雷西博天文台非相干散射雷达(ISR)设施的测量，以探测电离层和内磁层(或等离子体层)。这些测量揭示了电离层的可变性以及电离层和磁层之间的耦合。这种耦合调节着能量从太阳到地球的转移，并受到与太阳活动相关的强烈变化的影响。这项建议还包括通过NSF REU计划的本科生指导的形式的更广泛的影响。促进这项研究的关键过程是使用高功率、高频辐射在AO处人工刺激高能(超热)电子。超热电子增强了自然产生的夜间等离子体发射(？线？)，并沿着地磁线传播。跟踪超热电子束的光谱特征可以深入了解电离层的可变性，以及高能电子从等离子体层到中纬度电离层的传输。这一过程目前还不是很清楚，但对于理解地磁风暴-中纬度现象及其扰乱通信和导航系统的可能性是重要的。PI还将利用ISR电子和离子温度以及等离子体漂移来测量行进的电离层扰动，以及被认为触发它们的大气重力波的传播参数。

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.