Study of the technique of stellar occultation

The results are reported of a study of the stellar occultation technique for measuring the composition of the atmosphere. The intensity of starlight was monitored during the occultation using the Wisconsin stellar ultraviolet photometers aboard the Orbiting Astronomical Observatory (OAO-A2). A schematic diagram of an occultation is shown where the change in intensity at a given wavelength is illustrated. The vertical projection of the attenuation region is typically 60 km deep for molecular oxygen and 30 km deep for ozone. Intensity profiles obtained during various occultations were analyzed by first determining the tangential columm density of the absorbing gases, and then Abel inverting the column densities to obtain the number density profile. Errors are associated with each step in the inversion scheme and have been considered as an integral part of this study

Measurements of positive ions and air-earth current density at Maitri, Antarctica

Simultaneous measurements of the small-, intermediate- and large- positive ions and air earth current density made at a coastal station, Maitri at Antarctica during January to February 2005, are reported. Although, small and large positive ion concentrations do not show any systematic diurnal variations, variations in them are almost similar to each other. On the other hand, variations in intermediate positive ion concentrations are independent of variations in the small/large positive ions and exhibit a diurnal variation which is similar to that in atmospheric temperature on fair weather days with a maximum during the day and minimum during the night hours. No such diurnal variation in intermediate positive ion concentration is observed on cloudy days when variations in them are also similar to those insmall/large positive ion concentrations. Magnitude of diurnal variation in intermediate positive ion concentration on fair weather days increases with the lowering of atmospheric temperature in this season. Scavenging of ions by snowfall and trapping of Alha - rays from the ground radioactivity by a thin layer of snow on ground, is demonstrated from observations. Variations in intermediate positive ion concentration are explained on the basis of the formation of new particles by the photolytic nucleation process.Comment: 38 pages, 11 figure and 2 tabl

Report from upper atmospheric science

Most of the understanding of the thermosphere resulted from the analysis of data accrued through the Atmosphere Explorer satellites, the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite, and observations from rockets, balloons, and ground based instruments. However, new questions were posed by the data that have not yet been answered. The mesosphere and lower thermosphere have been less thoroughly studied because of the difficulty of accessibility on a global scale, and many rather fundamental characteristics of these regions are not well understood. A wide variety of measurement platforms can be used to implement various parts of a measurement strategy, but the major thrusts of the International Solar Terrestrial Physics Program would require Explorer-class missions. A remote sensing mission to explore the mesosphere and lower thermosphere and one and two Explorer-type spacecraft to enable a mission into the thermosphere itself would provide the essential components of a productive program of exploration of this important region of the upper atomsphere. Theoretical mission options are explored

The flywheel effect: Ionospheric currents after a geomagnetic storm

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95263/1/grl5685.pd

Large Enhancements in the O/N2 Ratio in the Evening Sector of the Winter Hemisphere During Geomagnetic Storms

In this paper, we have looked for enhancements of the O/N2 ratio in data measured by the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE 2) satellite in the middle latitudes of the winter hemisphere, based on a prediction that was made by the National Center for Atmospheric Research thermosphere/tonosphere general circulation model (NCAR-TIGCM) that such increases occur. The NCAR-TIGCM predicts that these enhancements should be seen throughout the low latitude region and in many middle latitude locations, but that the enhancements in O/N2 are particularly strong in the middle-latitude, evening-to-midnight sector of the winter hemisphere. When this prediction was used to look for these effects in DE 2 NACS (neutral atmosphere composition spectrometer) data, large enhancements in the O/N2 ratio (approx. 50 to 90%) were seen. These enhancements were observed during the main phase of a storm that occurred on November 24, 1982, and were seen in the same region of the winter hemisphere predicted by the NCAR-TIGCM. They are partially the result of the depletion of N2 and, as electron loss is dependent on dissociative recombination at F(sub 2) altitudes, they have implications for electron densities in this area. Parcel trajectories, which have been followed through the NCAR-TIGCM history file for this event, show that large O/N2 enhancements occur in this limited region in the winter hemisphere for two reasons. First, these parcels of air are decelerated by the antisunward edge of the ion convection pattern; individual parcels converge and subsidence occurs. Thus molecular-nitrogen-poor air is brought from higher to lower heights. Because neutral parcels that are found a little poleward of the equatorial edge of the eveningside convection pattern are swept inward toward the center of the auroral oval, the enhancements occur only in a very limited range of latitudes. Second, nitrogen-poor air is transported from regions close to the magnetic pole in the winter hemisphere. During geomagnetic storms, enhanced meridional winds are driven by the increased pressure-gradient force that is associated with intensified Joule heating in the auroral oval. These pressure-driven winds decrease rapidly on the dayside beyond the auroral oval where the parcels originate, limiting the region into which the parcels can be transported. Thus these two processes drive values of O/N2 in a limited region of the winter hemisphere, and reinforce only in the evening sector, causing large changes in this region

Geomagnetic Storm Effects in the Low- to Middle-Latitude Upper Thermosphere

In this paper, we use data from the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE 2) satellite and a theoretical simulation made by using the National Center for Atmospheric Research thermosphere/ionosphere general circulation model (NCAR-TIGCM) to study storm-induced changes in the structure of the upper thermosphere in the low- to middle-latitude (20 deg-40 deg N) region of the winter hemisphere. Our principal results are as follows: (1) The winds associated with the diurnal tide weaken during geomagnetic storms, causing primarily zonally oriented changes in the evening sector, few changes in the middle of the afternoon, a combination of zonal and meridional changes in the late morning region, and mainly meridional changes early in the morning; (2) Decreases in the magnitudes of the horizontal winds associated with the diurnal tide lead to a net downward tendency in the vertical winds blowing through a constant pressure surface; (3) Because of these changes in the vertical wind, there is an increase in compressional heating (or a decrease in cooling through expansion), and thus temperatures in the low- to middle-latitudes of the winter hemisphere increase; (4) Densities of all neutral species increase on a constant height surface, but the pattern of changes in the O/N2 ratio is not well ordered on these surfaces; (5) The pattern of changes in the O/N2 ratio is better ordered on constant pressure surfaces. The increases in this ratio on constant pressure surfaces in the low- to middle-latitude, winter hemisphere are caused by a more downward tendency in the vertical winds that blow through the constant pressure surfaces. Nitrogen-poor air is then advected downward through the pressure surface, increasing the O/N2 ratio; (6) The daytime geographical distribution of the modeled increases in the O/N2 ratio on a constant pressure surface in the low- to middle-latitudes of the winter hemisphere correspond very closely with those of increases in the modeled electron densities at the F2 peak

The Effects of Neutral Inertia on Ionospheric Currents in the High-Latitude Thermosphere Following a Geomagnetic Storm

Results of an experimental and theoretical investigation into the effects of the time dependent neutral wind flywheel on high-latitude ionospheric electrodynamics are presented. The results extend our previous work which used the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere/Ionosphere General Circulation Model (NCAR TIGCM) to theoretically simulate flywheel effects in the aftermath of a geomagnetic storm. The previous results indicated that the neutral circulation, set up by ion-neutral momentum coupling in the main phase of a geomagnetic storm, is maintained for several hours after the main phase has ended and may dominate height-integrated Hall currents and field-aligned currents for up to 4-5 hours. We extend the work of Deng et al. to include comparisons between the calculated time-dependent ionospheric Hall current system in the storm-time recovery period and that measured by instruments on board the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE 2) satellite. Also, comparisons are made between calculated field-aligned currents and those derived from DE 2 magnetometer measurements. These calculations also allow us to calculate the power transfer rate (sometimes called the Poynting flux) between the magnetosphere and ionosphere. The following conclusions have been drawn: (1) Neutral winds can contribute significantly to the horizontal ionospheric current system in the period immediately following the main phase of a geomagnetic storm, especially over the magnetic polar cap and in regions of ion drift shear. (2) Neutral winds drive Hall currents that flow in the opposite direction to those driven by ion drifts. (3) The overall morphology of the calculated field-aligned current system agrees with previously published observations for the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) B(sub Z) southward conditions, although the region I and region 2 currents are smeared by the TI(ICM model grid resolution. (4) Neutral winds can make significant contributions to the field-aligned current system when B(sub Z) northward conditions prevail following the main phase of a storm, but can account for only a fraction of the observed currents. (5) DE 2 measurements provide a demonstration of "local" (satellite-altitude) flywheel effects. (6) On the assumption that the magnetosphere acts as an insulator, we calculate neutral-wind-induced polarization electric fields of approx. 20-30 kV in the period immediately following the geomagnetic storm

Thermosphere and ionosphere dynamics during 20-30 March 1979 time period: Comparison of TIGCM calculated densities with observations

The Thermosphere Ionosphere General Circulation Model developed at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, (NCAR TIGCM), has been used to simulate the time-dependent variations of global thermosphere and ionosphere structure and dynamics during the 20-30 March 1979 time period. Thermospheric density variations predicted by the TIGCM during this period are statistically compared to satellite electrostatic triaxial accelerometer neutral density measurements obtained between 170 and 240 km altitude and to predictions made by the Mass Spectrometer Incoherent Scatter empirical model (MSIS-86). In its present state of development, the TIGCM has attained about the same accuracy (standard deviation), as MSIS-86. Incorporation of improved representation of ion drag, resulting from the downward flow of magnetospheric plasma on the nightside, has contributed to the TIGCM model accuracy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/30290/1/0000692.pd

Thermospheric composition changes seen during a geomagnetic storm

The largest magnitude winds observed using the instruments on board the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE-2) satellite were measured during the large geomagnetic storm that occured on the 24th of November 1982. Neutral temperatures exceeded 2000 K during this strom, these high temperatures, combined with the very large observed winds and the very full instrumental coverage available in both hemispheres, make it a unique event to study. In this paper we present results obtained using these DE-2 data and a time dependent simulation of the event made using the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere/Ionosphere General Circulation Model (NCAR-TIGCM). In general, the agreement between model calcuations and the data is very good, implying that most of the important physical processes controlling the energetics and dynamics of the thermosphere are reasonably well represented in the model. The modelled summer hemisphere changes in the mass mixing ratio of N2([Psi]N2) are in very good agreement with the DE-2 data, and the overall global pattern of [Psi]N2 in the model is also in good agreement with the averaged data in both hemispheres. This agreement allows us to study the physical processes occurring in the model with confidence that they are the same as those occuring in the "real" thermosphere. This short paper describes model-experiment comparisons for the November 24, 1982 geomagnetic storm, but does not include the processes responsible for these changes. A full description of them is available in the set of papers/1,2,3,4/.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/29808/1/0000154.pd

Aurorasaurus:a citizen science platform for viewing and reporting the aurora

A new, citizen science based, aurora observing and reporting platform has been developed with the primary aim of collecting auroral observations made by the general public to further improve the modeling of the aurora. In addition, the real-time ability of this platform facilitates the combination of citizen science observations with auroral oval models to improve auroral visibility nowcasting. Aurorasaurus provides easily understandable aurora information, basic gamification, and real-time location-based notification of verified aurora activity to engage citizen scientists. The Aurorasaurus project is one of only a handful of space weather citizen science projects and can provide useful results for the space weather and citizen science communities. Early results are promising with over 2,000 registered users submitting over 1,000 aurora observations and verifying over 1,700 aurora sightings posted on Twitter