Collaborative Research: CEDAR: Multi-site Fabry-Perot Interferometer Measurements of Thermospheric Neutral Winds and Temperatures in Western South America

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The complex processes occurring in the ionosphere-thermosphere (IT) coupled system have been historically studied using both space-borne and ground-based instrumentation such as the Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI), an instrument capable of measuring thermospheric winds near 250 km. A particularly important region including the geomagnetic equator that has remained largely unsampled with respect to these winds is the area of the Western South America (WSA) extending from 35°S to 5°S. The relationship between the speed and direction of these winds and the plasma dynamics within the WSA caused by the Appleton fountain effect over the geomagnetic equator has remained largely unexplored. The objective of this award is to advance the current understanding of the equatorial thermospheric and ionospheric dynamics within the WSA sector. The deployment of a large-scale meridional chain of FPI instruments combined with the existing all- sky imaging systems would serve as an important and resourceful tool for space weather research. The project will significantly enhance the collaboration between US and international researchers. At the new FPI site, where limited educational and technological resources exist, educational outreach activities will include visiting local schools and engaging students in STEM topics. Undergraduate and graduate students will be involved in this project.The first objective of this project is to improve the current understanding of the IT dynamics in the WSA region extending across the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) and the magnetic equator using simultaneous data from three Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI) already in operation. The other objective of this project is to combine the FPI data with the all-sky imagers (ASIs) data to support studies of the Midnight Temperature Maximum and Medium Scale Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances (MSTIDs) and Equatorial Spread-F that affect the dynamics of the IT system. A new FPI instrument will be deployed to a site in Argentina to observe thermospheric winds and temperatures close to the southern EIA crest. This deployment will create a chain of FPIs evenly separated by ~ 7o that would measure wind and temperature parameters in a 2000 km latitude span with four sites. The project will provide long-term regional neutral winds and temperatures in WSA that will help understand how the dynamics of the low latitude region are affected by the presence of a spatially and temporally variable EIA.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.