Global Ionospheric Processes

• Main Authors: Pedersen, Todd R., Mishin, Evgeny, Beach, Theodore, Groves, Keith, Quinn, John, Mills, Travis, Esposito, Robert, Valladares, Cesar, Basu, Santimay, Starks, Michael, MacKenzie, Eileen
• Other Authors: AIR FORCE RESEARCH LAB HANSCOM AFB MA
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2008
• Subjects: Atmospheric Physics; *IONOSPHERE; POLAR REGIONS; SCINTILLATION; ARTIFICIAL SATELLITES; HIGH LATITUDES; EQUATORIAL REGIONS; OPTICAL PROPERTIES; COPEX(CONJUGATE POINTS EXPERIMENT); PE61102F; WUAFRL2311SDA4; Greenland; Station Nord
• Online Access: http://www.dtic.mil/docs/citations/ADA515141; http://oai.dtic.mil/oai/oai?&verb=getRecord&metadataPrefix=html&identifier=ADA515141

The Global Ionospheric Processes basic research task has focused on three core areas: the equatorial ionosphere, the polar ionosphere, and active experiments. In equatorial ionospheric research, the group concluded work on previous solar maximum experiments including the Conjugate Points Experiment (COPEX), made preparatory investigations for C/NOFSA satellite mission, and carried out initial research with the satellite after launch. In the high latitudes, a chain of stations across the polar cap was completed with the installation of instruments at Station Nord, Greenland, to observe the formation and evolution of polar cap patches and scintillation-producing irregularities. Significant progress was made in understanding substorm plasma injections as they relate to subauroral plasma streams and other phenomena near the plasmasphere boundary. A number of advances were made in active experiments, especially with the HAARP facility. This included reproduction of artificial optical emissions from the E layer, quantitative determination of optical emission generation efficiency, and investigations into naturally occurring subauroral precipitation structures that could prove useful for controlled particle precipitation experiments. We also detail a number of technology transitions resulting from this research. The original document contains color images.