The science case for the EISCAT_3D radar

The EISCAT (European Incoherent SCATer) Scientific Association has provided versatile incoherent scatter (IS) radar facilities on the mainland of northern Scandinavia (the EISCAT UHF and VHF radar systems) and on Svalbard (the electronically scanning radar ESR (EISCAT Svalbard Radar) for studies of the high-latitude ionised upper atmosphere (the ionosphere). The mainland radars were constructed about 30 years ago, based on technological solutions of that time. The science drivers of today, however, require a more flexible instrument, which allows measurements to be made from the troposphere to the topside ionosphere and gives the measured parameters in three dimensions, not just along a single radar beam. The possibility for continuous operation is also an essential feature. To facilitatefuture science work with a world-leading IS radar facility, planning of a new radar system started first with an EU-funded Design Study (2005–2009) and has continued with a follow-up EU FP7 EISCAT_3D Preparatory Phase project (2010–2014). The radar facility will be realised by using phased arrays, and a key aspect is the use of advanced software and data processing techniques. This type of software radar will act as a pathfinder for other facilities worldwide. The new radar facility will enable the EISCAT_3D science community to address new, significant science questions as well as to serve society, which is increasingly dependent on space-based technology and issues related to space weather. The location of the radar within the auroral oval and at the edge of the stratospheric polar vortex is also ideal for studies of the long-term variability in the atmosphere and global change. This paper is a summary of the EISCAT_3D science case, which was prepared as part of the EU-funded Preparatory Phase project for the new facility. Three science working groups, drawn from the EISCAT user community, participated in preparing this document. In addition to these working group members, who are listed as authors, thanks are due to many others in the EISCAT scientific community for useful contributions, discussions, and support

The science case for the EISCAT_3D radar

The EISCAT (European Incoherent SCATer) Scientific Association has provided versatile incoherent scatter (IS) radar facilities on the mainland of northern Scandinavia (the EISCAT UHF and VHF radar systems) and on Svalbard (the electronically scanning radar ESR (EISCAT Svalbard Radar) for studies of the high-latitude ionised upper atmosphere (the ionosphere). The mainland radars were constructed about 30 years ago, based on technological solutions of that time. The science drivers of today, however, require a more flexible instrument, which allows measurements to be made from the troposphere to the topside ionosphere and gives the measured parameters in three dimensions, not just along a single radar beam. The possibility for continuous operation is also an essential feature. To facilitatefuture science work with a world-leading IS radar facility, planning of a new radar system started first with an EU-funded Design Study (2005–2009) and has continued with a follow-up EU FP7 EISCAT_3D Preparatory Phase project (2010–2014). The radar facility will be realised by using phased arrays, and a key aspect is the use of advanced software and data processing techniques. This type of software radar will act as a pathfinder for other facilities worldwide. The new radar facility will enable the EISCAT_3D science community to address new, significant science questions as well as to serve society, which is increasingly dependent on space-based technology and issues related to space weather. The location of the radar within the auroral oval and at the edge of the stratospheric polar vortex is also ideal for studies of the long-term variability in the atmosphere and global change. This paper is a summary of the EISCAT_3D science case, which was prepared as part of the EU-funded Preparatory Phase project for the new facility. Three science working groups, drawn from the EISCAT user community, participated in preparing this document. In addition to these working group members, who are listed as authors, thanks are due to many others in the EISCAT scientific community for useful contributions, discussions, and support

Studies of the Ionosphere-Thermosphere Responses to Multi-Scale Energy Deposition Processes

The Ionosphere-Thermosphere (I-T) system is greatly affected by the magnetospheric energy deposition from above and subjected to forcing from the lower atmosphere simultaneously. A central problem in studying the coupled I-T system is to analyze the multi-scale processes naturally embedded in both ways. Magnetospheric energy input such as auroral precipitation and electric field demonstrates multi-scale structures during magnetic storms, resulting in multi-scale I-T responses when deposited into the I-T system. To better quantify the multi-scale aurora and electric field, we developed a new data assimilation model based on a multi-resolution Gaussian process model to synthesize empirical models and observational data from various sources and provide estimates in regions without observations. The new method mitigates the discrepancy between empirical models and observations by successfully capturing the dynamic evolutions of large-scale and mesoscale auroral and electric field structures. By further incorporating the assimilated aurora and electric fields into Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIEGCM) during the 2015 St. Patrick\u27s Day storm, we significantly elevate Joule heating and largely reproduce the global and local I-T responses as observed, including the enhanced electron density and vertical wind. Data assimilation also helps introduce more spatial and temporal variabilities in TIEGCM, which propagate to low-latitude regions through Traveling Atmospheric Disturbance (TAD). In the other direction, to study the atmospheric wave forcing from below and how it impacts the I-T system, we develop a nested-grid extension to TIEGCM to study the Gravity Wave (GW) propagation process and its ionospheric effect during the 2022 Tonga volcano eruption. Such a hybrid-grid design helps to better simulate the variations of a smaller scale than the standard model resolution while reducing computation costs at the same time. With proper seeding at the lower boundary, GW propagation in the thermosphere is successfully reproduced. The resulting Traveling Ionospheric Disturbance (TID) in the ionosphere has a similar speed to observations. The wave spectrum at different altitudes also indicates that the dominant GW has a shorter period and horizontal wavelength at higher altitudes. This dissertation discusses the detailed tool development, including data assimilation and TIEGCM-NG, which enables a better understanding of the influences of multi-scale magnetospheric forcing and lower-atmosphere wave forcing on the I-T system. This work provides a powerful set of tools for a better simulation of space weather

Ionospheric correction of interferometric SAR data with application to the cryospheric sciences

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2018The ionosphere has been identified as an important error source for spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) data and SAR Interferometry (InSAR), especially for low frequency SAR missions, operating, e.g., at L-band or P-band. Developing effective algorithms for the correction of ionospheric effects is still a developing and active topic of remote sensing research. The focus of this thesis is to develop robust and accurate techniques for ionospheric correction of SAR and InSAR data and evaluate the benefit of these techniques for cryospheric research fields such as glacier ice velocity tracking and permafrost deformation monitoring. As both topics are mostly concerned with high latitude areas where the ionosphere is often active and characterized by turbulence, ionospheric correction is particularly relevant for these applications. After an introduction to the research topic in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 will discuss open issues in ionospheric correction including processing issues related to baseline-induced spectrum shifts. The effect of large baseline on split spectrum InSAR technique has been thoroughly evaluated and effective solutions for compensating this effect are proposed. In addition, a multiple sub-band approach is proposed for increasing the algorithm robustness and accuracy. Selected case studies are shown with the purpose of demonstrating the performance of the developed algorithm. In Chapter 3, the developed ionospheric correction technology is applied to optimize InSAR-based ice velocity measurements over the big ice sheets in Greenland and the Antarctic. Selected case studies are presented to demonstrate and validate the effectiveness of the proposed correction algorithms for ice velocity applications. It is shown that the ionosphere signal can be larger than the actual glacier motion signal in the interior of Greenland and Antarctic, emphasizing the necessity for operational ionospheric correction. The case studies also show that the accuracy of ice velocity estimates was significantly improved once the developed ionospheric correction techniques were integrated into the data processing flow. We demonstrate that the proposed ionosphere correction outperforms the traditionally-used approaches such as the averaging of multi-temporal data and the removal of obviously affected data sets. For instance, it is shown that about one hundred multi-temporal ice velocity estimates would need to be averaged to achieve the estimation accuracy of a single ionosphere-corrected measurement. In Chapter 4, we evaluate the necessity and benefit of ionospheric-correction for L-band InSAR-based permafrost research. In permafrost zones, InSAR-based surface deformation measurements are used together with geophysical models to estimate permafrost parameters such as active layer thickness, soil ice content, and permafrost degradation. Accurate error correction is needed to avoid biases in the estimated parameters and their co-variance properties. Through statistical analyses of a large number of L-band InSAR data sets over Alaska, we show that ionospheric signal distortions, at different levels of magnitude, are present in almost every InSAR dataset acquired in permafrost-affected regions. We analyze the ionospheric correction performance that can be achieved in permafrost zones by statistically analyzing correction results for large number of InSAR data. We also investigate the impact of ionospheric correction on the performance of the two main InSAR approaches that are used in permafrost zones: (1) we show the importance of ionospheric correction for permafrost deformation estimation from discrete InSAR observations; (2) we demonstrate that ionospheric correction leads to significant improvements in the accuracy of time-series InSAR-based permafrost products. Chapter 5 summarizes the work conducted in this dissertation and proposes next steps in this field of research

Contributions to ionospheric modeling with GNSS in mapping function, tomography and polar electron

This dissertation focuses on determining the vertical electron content distribution in low and high vertical resolution from ground-based and LEO on board GNSS data and improving the knowledge of ionosphere climatology in northern mid-latitude and polar regions. The novelty is summarized in the following four aspects: The first contribution is to propose a new ionospheric mapping function concept - Barcelona Ionospheric Mapping Function (BIMF), in order to improve STEC (Slant Total Electron Content) conversion accuracy from any given VTEC (Vertical Total Electron Content) model. BIMF is based on the climatic modeling of the VTEC fraction in the second layer - µ2, which is the byproduct of UQRG generated by UPC. The first implementation of BIMF is BIMF-nml for the northern mid-latitudes, where the latitudinal variation of µ2 is neglected. µ2 is modeled as function of date and local time. From the user’s perspective, BIMF is the linear combination of µ2 and the standard ionospheric mapping function, and only needs 41 constant coefficients, making BIMF achieve the simplicity for application. The good performance has been demonstrated in the dSTEC assessment for different IGSGIMs: UQRG, CODG and JPLG. The second contribution is to confirm the capability of UQRG GIMs to detect representative ionospheric features in polar regions through six case studies, including TOI (Tongue of Ionization), trough, flux transfer event, theta-aurora, ionospheric convection patterns and storm enhanced density. The long-term VTEC and µ2 data provide valuable databases for studying the morphology and climatology of polar ionospheric phenomena. The unsupervised clustering results of normalized VTEC distribution show that TOI and polar cap patches exhibit an annual dependence, i.e. most TOI and patches occurring in the North Hemisphere winter and the South Hemisphere summer. The third contribution is to propose a hybrid method - AVHIRO (the Abel-VaryChap Hybrid modeling from topside Incomplete RO data), to solve an ill-posed rank-deficient problem in the Abel electron density retrieval. This work is driven by the future EUMETSAT Polar System 2nd Generation, which provides truncated ionospheric RO data, only below impact heights of 500 km, in order to guarantee a full data gathering of the neutral part. AVHIRO takes advantage of one Linear Vary-Chap model, where the scale height increases linearly with altitude above the F2 layer peak, and uses Powell search to solve the full electron densities, ambiguity term, and four parameters of the Vary-Chap model simultaneously, taking into account the nonlinear interactions between the unknown parameters. The fourth contribution is to take advantage of the geometry brought by combining DORIS, ground-based Galileo, ground-based, LEO-POD and vessel-based GPS data and ingest the multi-source dual-frequency carrier phase measurements into the tomographic model to improve the GIM VTEC estimation precision. The impact of adding each type of measurements, which are Galileo data, vessel-based GPS data, DORIS and LEO-POD GPS data, to ground-based GPS data on GIM product is examined according to two complementing evaluation criteria, JASON-3 VTEC comparison and GPS dSTEC test. This study proves the expected better GIM performance by new data ingestion into tomographic model, which is a successful step forward from conception to initial experimental validation.electrones en resolución vertical baja y alta a partir de medidas GNSS terrestres y a bordo de satélites de órbita baja (LEO), además de utilizar medidas GNSS desde buques y medidas DORIS, además de mejorar el conocimiento de la climatología de la ionosfera en las regiones polares y en latitudes medias del hemisferio norte. Las contribuciones se pueden resumir en los siguientes cuatro aspectos: La primera contribución consiste en proponer un nuevo concepto de función de mapeo ionosférico: la función de mapeo ionosférico de Barcelona (BIMF), con el fin de mejorar la precisión de conversión de STEC (contenido total de electrones inclinado) a partir de cualquier modelo de VTEC (contenido total de electrones vertical). BIMF se basa en el modelado climático de la fracción VTEC en la segunda capa - μ2, que es el subproducto de UQRG generado por UPC. La primera implementación de BIMF es BIMF-nml para las latitudes medias del hemisferio norte. μ2 se modela en función del dia y la hora local. Desde la perspectiva del usuario, BIMF es la combinación lineal de μ2 y la función de mapeo ionosférico estándar, y solo necesita 41 coeficientes constantes, lo que hace que BIMF sea facilmente aplicable. Su buen comportamiento se demostró en la evaluación dSTEC para diferentes IGS GIM: UQRG, CODG y JPLG. La segunda contribución se centró en confirmar la capacidad de los GIM UQRG para detectar características ionosféricas representativas en regiones polares a través de seis estudios de casos, que incluyen lenguas de ionización (TOI), depresión de ionización en forma de canal, sucesos de transferencia de flujo, theta-aurora, patrones de convección ionosférica y densidad aumentada durante tormentas geomagnéticas. Los datos a largo plazo de VTEC y μ2 proporcionan valiosas bases de datos para estudiar la morfología y climatología de los fenómenos ionosféricos polares. Los resultados de agrupamiento no supervisados de la distribución normalizada de VTEC muestran que los TOI y los parches en los casquetes polares exhiben una dependencia anual, es decir, la mayoría de los TOI y parches ocurren en el invierno del Hemisferio Norte y el verano del Hemisferio Sur. La tercera contribución ha consistido en proponer un método híbrido: AVHIRO (el modelo híbrido Abel-VaryChap a partir de datos de RO incompletos en la parte superior), para resolver un problema de rango deficiente en la recuperación de la densidad electrónica con el modelo de Abel. Este trabajo está motivado por el futuro sistema polar EUMETSAT de segunda generación, que proporciona datos truncados de RO ionosférica, sólo por debajo de las alturas de impacto de 500 km, con el fin de garantizar una recopilación completa de medidas de la parte neutra. AVHIRO aprovecha un modelo Linear Vary-Chap, donde la altura de la escala aumenta linealmente con la altitud por encima del pico de la capa F2, y utiliza la búsqueda Powell para resolver las densidades completas de electrones, el término de ambig ¨ uedad y cuatro parámetros del modelo Vary-Chap simultáneamente, teniendo en cuenta las interacciones no lineales entre los parámetros desconocidos. La cuarta contribución es aprovechar la geometría aportada por la combinación de datos GPS DORIS, Galileo en tierra, LEO-POD y en barco, e incorporar las mediciones de la fase de la portadora de doble frecuencia de múltiples fuentes en el modelo tomográfico para mejorar la precisión de estimación de GIM VTEC. El impacto de agregar cada tipo de mediciones, que son datos de Galileo, datos de GPS basados en embarcaciones, datos de GPS DORIS y LEO-POD, a datos de GPS terrestres en productos GIM se examina de acuerdo con dos criterios de evaluación complementarios, comparación con VTEC[JASON-3] y con dSTEC[GPS]. Este estudio demuestra el mejor rendimiento esperado de GIM por la nueva ingesta de datos en el modelo tomográfico, que es un exitoso paso adelante desde la concepción hasta la validación experimental inicial

Radiowave Scattering Structure In The Disturbed Auroral Ionosphere: Some Measured Properties

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 196

A Search For Thermospheric Composition Perturbations Due To Vertical Winds

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2006The thermosphere is generally in hydrostatic equilibrium, with winds blowing horizontally along stratified constant-pressure surfaces, driven by the dayside-to-nightside pressure gradient. A marked change in this paradigm resulted after Spencer et al. [1976] reported vertical wind measurements of 80 m·s-1 from analyses of AE-C satellite data. It is now established that the thermosphere routinely supports large-magnitude (~30-150 m·s-1) vertical winds at auroral latitudes. These vertical winds represent significant departure from hydrostatic and diffusive equilibrium, altering locally---and potentially globally---the thermosphere's and ionosphere's composition, chemistry, thermodynamics and energy budget. Because of their localized nature, large-magnitude vertical wind effects are not entirely known. This thesis presents ground-based Fabry-Perot Spectrometer OI(630.0)-nm observations of upper-thermospheric vertical winds obtained at Inuvik, NT, Canada and Poker Flat, AK. The wind measurements are compared with vertical displacement estimates at ~104 km2 horizontal spatial scales determined from a new modification to the electron transport code of Lummerzheim and Lilensten [1994] as applied to FUV-wavelength observations by POLAR spacecraft's Ultraviolet Imager [Torr et al. , 1995]. The modification, referred to as the column shift, simulates vertical wind effects such as neutral transport and disruption of diffusive equilibrium by vertically displacing the Hedin [1991] MSIS-90 [O2]/[N2] and [O]/([N2]+[O2]) mixing ratios and subsequently redistributing the O, O2, and N 2 densities used in the transport code. Column shift estimates are inferred from comparisons of UVI OI(135.6)-nm auroral observations to their corresponding modeled emission. The modeled OI(135.6)-nm brightness is determined from the modeled thermospheric response to electron precipitation and estimations of the energy flux and characteristic energy of the precipitation, which are inferred from UVI-observed Lyman-Birge-Hopfield N2 emissions in two wavelength ranges. Two-dimensional column shift maps identify the spatial morphology of thermospheric composition perturbations associated with auroral forms relative to the model thermosphere. Case-study examples and statistical analyses of the column shift data sets indicate that column shifts can be attributed to vertical winds. Unanticipated limitations associated with modeling of the OI(135.6)-nm auroral emission make absolute column shift estimates indeterminate. Insufficient knowledge of thermospheric air-parcel time histories hinders interpretations of point-to-point time series comparisons between column shifts and vertical winds

The ESPAS e-infrastructure

ESPAS provides an e-Infrastructure to support access to a wide range of archived observations and model derived data for the near-Earth space environment, extending from the Earth's middle atmosphere up to the outer radiation belts. To this end, ESPAS will serve as a central access hub for researchers who wish to exploit multi-instrument multipoint data for scientific discovery, model development and validation, and data assimilation, among others. Observation based and model enhanced scientific understanding of the physical state of the Earth's space environment and its evolution is critical to advancing space weather and space climate studies, two very active branches of current scientific research. ESPAS offers an interoperable data infrastructure that enables users to find, access, and exploit near-Earth space environment observations from ground-based and spaceborne instruments and data from relevant models, obtained from distributed repositories. In order to facilitate efficient user queries ESPAS allows a highly flexible workflow scheme to select and request the desired data sets. ESPAS has the strategic goal of making Europe a leading player in the efficient use and dissemination of near-Earth space environment information offered by institutions, laboratories and research teams in Europe and worldwide, that are active in collecting, processing and distributing scientific data. Therefore, ESPAS is committed to support and foster new data providers who wish to promote the easy use of their data and models by the research community via a central access framework. ESPAS is open to all potential users interested in near-Earth space environment data, including those who are active in basic scientific research, technical or operational development and commercial applications

A Sundial-Atlas Precursor to the TIMED Mission: A Quick-Response Global Investigation into Coupled Lower Thermospheric, Ionospheric, and Mesospheric Physics

The SUNDIAL-ATLAS effort was a global-scale investigation which responded to the science priorities of the ITM Panel, the Integrated SPD Strategy Implementation Plan as a whole, and the need for potential cost-saving design criteria for the TIMED mission. The investigation focused on coupling processes in the ionospheric-thermospheric system, taking advantage of the timelines of the ATLAS-1 mission (March 1992), and the global-scale ground-based measurement and modeling activities of the SUNDIAL program. The collaborative SUNDIAL-ATLAS activity was the first opportunity for global measurements of the chemistry, kinetics, and electrodynamics which couple the E-, Fl-, and F2-regions into a single interactive system. As such, the program represented an important first step in studying global issues; and accordingly, was an important proof of concept experiment relevant to the strategic mission plans for the ITM community and the upcoming intermediate class satellite program called TIMED. To meet its projected goals, TIMED must perform a number of critical measurements and execute a number of correlations that were to be tried and tested for the first time in the SUNDIAL-ATLAS investigation. This was designed to include global correlations of thermospheric and ionospheric composition during quiet and disturbed conditions and the co-registration of global-scale ground-based measurements with along-track satellite diagnostics. The SUNDIAL component of the current investigation addressed this need by acquiring, reducing, and analyzing a multi-sensor database that complemented and extended that which was generated in the ATLAS mission (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science). The SUNDIAL data defined the state and condition of the global-scale ionosphere in the altitude range from 100 km to the F2-peak. These data specified the peak heights and densities of the E-, Fl-, and F2-regions, along with the global distributions of intermediate, descending, and sequential layers which play a critical role in the dynamo region of the lower ionospheric-thermospheric domain. The data were collected by the SUNDIAL network of more than 50 ground-based stations utilizing ionosondes, radars, photometers, Fabry-Perot interferometers, and total electron content measurements. The data were acquired during a three-week period centered on the eight-day ATLAS-1 mission, which provided image and photometric sensing of the altitude distributions of the major and minor ions and neutrals in the ITM system. This report focuses on the scientific contributions of the SUNDIAL component of the overall investigation. Specific findings are described in seven papers (attached) published in the Journal of Geophysical Research

An Observational Investigation of Mid-Latitude Thermospheric Temperatures and High-Latitude E-Region Neutral Wind Structures

The Earth\u27s atmosphere is a complicated environment. Different physical processes affect it depending on the altitude and latitude, among other factors. Three different aspects of the Earth\u27s upper atmosphere are investigated here, using two different techniques. These investigations are: the mid-latitude midnight temperature maximum (MTM), the mesosphere and low-thermosphere Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI), and the advective acceleration in the E-region. All of these studies occur in the Earth\u27s thermosphere and expand our understanding of these phenomena that represent different ways in which energy is transferred throughout the Earth\u27s atmosphere. Observing and characterizing these energy transfer pathways is crucial to further our knowledge of these geophysical processes. The MTM is typically understood as an equatorial phenomenon that has a characteristic temperature increase around midnight due to the constructive interference between tidal components. While this phenomenon has been studied thoroughly in latitudes $\u3c\pm$20$^\circ$ and modeled to reach $\sim$60$^\circ$; previous observations of temperature and winds had not confirmed its occurrence in latitudes $\u3e$20$^\circ$ N. In \citet{Mesquita2018} and Chapter \ref{chap:MTM} the following scientific question is addressed: What are the characteristics of the mid-latitude MTM? To answer it, a technique was developed to observe the phenomenon and estimate its amplitude between 32$^\circ$ N and 42$^\circ$ N. This investigation used the North American Thermosphere Ionosphere Observing Network (NATION) containing 5 Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI). Its data set includes a total of 846 nights of observations over a period of approximately 5 years. The new approach for calculating the MTM amplitude was developed by using a series of fits to determine the tidal background. Removing this background from the temperatures and applying an inversion algorithm allowed for the construction of two-dimensional temperature and wind maps, which illustrated the effects of the MTM on the wind field. A statistical analysis of the feature proved that both MTM peaks oscillate with semi-annual and annual periods. The KHI has been observed and characterized in the mesosphere (statically unstable region). However, the few observations of this phenomena in the low thermosphere (statically stable region) were not detailed and did not show evidence of turbulence above the mesopause. The following scientific questions were still unanswered: What is the triggering mechanism of KHIs in statically stable regions and how does it evolve? These questions are addressed by \citet{Mesquita2020} and in Chapter \ref{chap:SS}. The triangulation of vapor traces from sounding rockets showed the KHI in great detail above 100 km. Characterizing the KHI development in three dimensions revealed wavelength, eddy diameter, and vertical length scale of 9.8, 5.2, and 3.8 km, respectively, centered at 102 km altitude. Further analysis of dimensionless numbers -- such as Richardson, Reynolds, and Froude numbers -- illustrated that the presence of strong and sustained shears was the mechanism involved in generating KHIs in the thermosphere. Advection has been modeled to be an important acceleration in high-latitude. However, observations of this forcing mechanism have been scarce. Moreover, previous studies investigated the effects of the Hall drag on the Coriolis parameter without including the centrifugal force in the analysis. Chapter \ref{chap:adv} addresses the following scientific question: How does geomagnetic activity affect the vertical distribution of forces (including advection) and the modified Coriolis parameter in the E-region? Triangulation of vapor traces released from sounding rockets was used to calculate the meridional advective acceleration. The observations took place during 5 different geomagnetic conditions for the JOULE II, HEX II, MIST, Auroral Jets, and Super Soaker launches. The instantaneous Lorentz acceleration, which is often considered a dominant force in high-latitude active conditions, was calculated by using the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) data. These calculations showed that advection can become a dominant term depending on the geomagnetic activity level. The analysis of modified Coriolis parameter $\Phi$, which includes the centrifugal acceleration, revealed that in strong geomagnetic activity an air parcel tends to remain in the auroral oval (channel of enhanced Lorentz acceleration) for an extended period of time. This potentially provides an explanation for why winds are enhanced in the low thermosphere above 115 km during strong geomagnetic activity