IMF effect on sporadic-E layers at two northern polar cap sites: Part I ? Statistical study

International audienceIn this paper we investigate the relationship between polar cap sporadic-E layers and the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) using a 2-year database from Longyearbyen (75.2 CGM Lat, Svalbard) and Thule (85.4 CGM Lat, Greenland). It is found that the MLT distributions of sporadic-E occurrence are different at the two stations, but both are related to the IMF orientation. This relationship, however, changes from the centre of the polar cap to its border. Layers are more frequent during positive By at both stations. This effect is particularly strong in the central polar cap at Thule, where a weak effect associated with Bz is also observed, with positive Bz correlating with a higher occurrence of Es. Close to the polar cap boundary, at Longyearbyen, the By effect is weaker than at Thule. On the other hand, Bz plays there an equally important role as By, with negative Bz correlating with the Es occurrence. Since Es layers can be created by electric fields at high latitudes, a possible explanation for the observations is that the layers are produced by the polar cap electric field controlled by the IMF. Using electric field estimates calculated by means of the statistical APL convection model from IMF observations, we find that the diurnal distributions of sporadic-E occurrence can generally be explained in terms of the electric field mechanism. However, other factors must be considered to explain why more layers occur during positive than during negative By and why the Bz dependence of layer occurrence in the central polar cap is different from that at the polar cap boundary

Technique: Large‐scale ionospheric conductance estimated from combined satellite and ground‐based electromagnetic data

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/95266/1/jgra18651.pd

HF radar observations of a quasi‐biennial oscillation in midlatitude mesospheric winds

The equatorial quasi‐biennial oscillation (QBO) is known to be an important source of interannual variability in the middle‐ and high‐latitude stratosphere. The influence of the QBO on the stratospheric polar vortex in particular has been extensively studied. However, the impact of the QBO on the winds of the midlatitude mesosphere is much less clear. We have applied 13 years (2002–2014) of data from the Saskatoon Super Dual Auroral Radar Network HF radar to show that there is a strong QBO signature in the midlatitude mesospheric zonal winds during the late winter months. We find that the Saskatoon mesospheric winds are related to the winds of the equatorial QBO at 50 hPa such that the westerly mesospheric winds strengthen when QBO is easterly, and vice versa. We also consider the situation in the late winter Saskatoon stratosphere using the European Centre for Medium‐Range Weather Forecasts ERA‐Interim reanalysis data set. We find that the Saskatoon stratospheric winds between 7 hPa and 70 hPa weaken when the equatorial QBO at 50 hPa is easterly, and vice versa. We speculate that gravity wave filtering from the QBO‐modulated stratospheric winds and subsequent opposite momentum deposition in the mesosphere plays a major role in the appearance of the QBO signature in the late winter Saskatoon mesospheric winds, thereby coupling the equatorial stratosphere and the midlatitude mesosphere.Key PointsA significant mesospheric QBO signature is observed at Saskatoon using midlatitude SuperDARN HF radar during late winterSaskatoon MQBO signature is significantly correlated with equatorial QBOFiltering of gravity waves through Saskatoon stratospheric winds and opposite momentum deposition in the mesosphere leads to MQBOPeer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135660/1/jgrd53414.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135660/2/jgrd53414_am.pd

GPS Phase Scintillation at High Latitudes during Geomagnetic Storms of 7–17 March 2012 – Part 1: The North American Sector

During the ascending phase of solar cycle 24, a series of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) in the period 7–17 March 2012 caused geomagnetic storms that strongly affected high-latitude ionosphere in the Northern and Southern Hemisphere. GPS phase scintillation was observed at northern and southern high latitudes by arrays of GPS ionospheric scintillation and TEC monitors (GISTMs) and geodetic-quality GPS receivers sampling at 1 Hz. Mapped as a function of magnetic latitude and magnetic local time, regions of enhanced scintillation are identified in the context of coupling processes between the solar wind and the magnetosphere–ionosphere system. Large southward IMF and high solar wind dynamic pressure resulted in the strongest scintillation in the nightside auroral oval. Scintillation occurrence was correlated with ground magnetic field perturbations and riometer absorption enhancements, and collocated with mapped auroral emission. During periods of southward IMF, scintillation was also collocated with ionospheric convection in the expanded dawn and dusk cells, with the antisunward convection in the polar cap and with a tongue of ionization fractured into patches. In contrast, large northward IMF combined with a strong solar wind dynamic pressure pulse was followed by scintillation caused by transpolar arcs in the polar cap

Response of the magnetosphere‐ionosphere system to a sudden southward turning of interplanetary magnetic field

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94580/1/jgra19458.pd