First tristatic studies of meso-scale ion-neutral dynamics and energetics in the high-latitude upper atmosphere using collocated FPIs and EISCAT radar

• Main Authors: Aruliah, A.L., Griffin, E.M., McWhirter, I., Aylward, A.D., Ford, E.A.K., Charalambous, A., Kosch, M.J., Davis, C.J., Howells, V.S.C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: 2004
• Subjects: EISCAT
• Online Access: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/9154/1/2003GL018469.pdf; https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/9154/

A unique experiment was undertaken during the nights of 27 and 28 February 2003. Tristatic Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) measurements of the upper thermosphere were co-located with tristatic EISCAT radar measurements of the ionosphere. Tristatic measurements should remove assumptions of uniform wind fields and ion drifts, and zero vertical winds. The FPIs are located close to the 3 radars of the EISCAT configuration in northern Scandinavia. Initial studies indicate that the thermosphere is more dynamic and responsive to ionospheric forcing than expected. Mesoscale variations are observed on the scales of tens of kilometers and minutes. The magnitude of the upper thermosphere neutral wind dynamo field is on average 50% of the magnetospheric electric field and contributes an average magnitude of 41% of in-situ Joule heating. The relative orientations of the 2 dynamo field vectors produce a standard deviation of ±65% in the contribution of the neutral wind dynamo.