High latitude ionospheric flow channels: effects on polar and subauroral region dynamics

• Main Author: Díaz Peña, Joaquín Mateo
• Other Authors: Semeter, Joshua L
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2024
• Subjects: Engineering; Resolute Bay
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/2144/48851

The central focus of this dissertation is the investigation of flow channel effects on ionospheric dynamics, specifically within the polar and sub-auroral regions. In the polar region, the dynamics are heavily influenced by magnetic reconnection, convection, and particle precipitation, with polar cap patches providing a reliable metric for assessing the interaction of these processes. Research in this area is facilitated by the use of Incoherent Scatter Radars (ISR), such as AMISR, and by missions in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) that traverse the region multiple times daily. Conversely, in the sub-auroral region, the completion of ionospheric currents leads to the formation of an ionospheric trough, characterized by flow channels like Subauroral Polarization Streams (SAPS) and Subauroral Ion Drift (SAID), as well as the STEVE phenomenon. This region’s vastness and the lack of comprehensive satellite, radar, and camera coverage make modeling an indispensable method for its exploration. The second chapter examines a flow channel caused by a polar cap arc by exploiting a multi-sensor approach. F-region patches are used as proxies of the plasma behavior as they travel across the polar cap. The study leverages the Resolute Bay Incoherent Scatter Radar (RISR-N) volumetric sampling, along with all-sky imagery and in-situ measurements, to investigate the dynamics between cold plasma movement and auroral precipitation amid a high-latitude lobe reconnection event on the dawn side. The interplay of transport and the release of magnetic stress from a high-latitude reconnection surge resulted in the merging of patches and soft electron precipitation, leading to zones with increased electron density and temperature. The third chapter presents a 3D simulation of an extreme SAID flow channel in the subauroral region. It is theorized that this type flow channel can be a precursors of the STEVE phenomena, where extreme velocities and temperatures have been measured. This Chapter utilizes a Field Aligned Current (FAC) density originating ...