Collaborative Research: Comprehensive Investigation of Midlatitude Ionospheric Irregularities

合作研究：中纬度电离层不规则性综合调查

• 批准号: 1360594
• 负责人: Miguel Larsen
• 金额: $ 19.66万
• 依托单位: Clemson University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-07-01 至 2020-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1360594&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Comprehensive; Investigation; Midlatitude

This project will address fundamental science questions on how the midlatitude ionosphere behaves as a system. The midlatitude ionosphere is as prone to instability as the equatorial and auroral ionospheres despite the lack of obvious sources of free energy, and there is no comprehensive theory to explain this. There is a clear relationship between neutral winds, wind shear, and turbulence and Es layer formation and structuring, but the causal links have yet to be clearly articulated. Equally clear is that E region irregularities and F region medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) and irregularities are electrically coupled, but the roles of the regions (sources, loads, coupled resonators) remain unspecified. This project will investigate midlatitude sporadic E layers, MSTIDs, the associated plasma density irregularities, their mutual coupling, their geomagnetic conjugacy, and coupling to the thermospheric neutral motion. The investigation will have experimental, theoretical, and modeling aspects. The experimental component of the research will be conducted in the Caribbean and will center on the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar. This radar will be supported by a coherent scatter radar imager fielded so as to have common E- and F-region scattering volumes with Arecibo. The project will also utilize the Arecibo lidars and all-sky imagers as well as sounders and GPS Total Electron Content (TEC) data. The theoretical investigation will focus on the turbulence properties of the neutral motions in the mesosphere/lower thermosphere (MLT) region, which will be studied using a multi-scale analysis, and on the consequences for ionospheric structuring. Modeling work will incorporate a newly developed, fully three-dimensional plasma dynamics model. Undergraduate and graduate students will participate in this work, and public outreach activities will be carried out in the Caribbean.

该项目将解决有关中纬度电离层如何表现为系统的基本科学问题。尽管缺乏明显的自由能来源，但中纬度电离层与赤道和极光电离层一样容易出现不稳定性，而且没有全面的理论来解释这一点。中性风，风剪和湍流与ES层的形成和结构之间存在明显的关系，但是因果关系尚未清楚地表达出来。同样清楚的是，E区域不规则性和F区域中尺度行进电离层障碍（MSTIDS）和不规则性是电的，但是区域（来源，负载，耦合谐振器）的作用仍然未指定。 该项目将研究中纬度零星的层，MSTID，相关的血浆密度不规则，它们的相互耦合，它们的地磁偶联性以及与热层中性运动的耦合。该研究将具有实验，理论和建模方面。该研究的实验成分将在加勒比海进行，并将集中在Arecibo Incroherent散点雷达上。该雷达将由所施加的相干散射雷达成像仪支持，以便与Arecibo具有常见的E-和F区域散射体积。该项目还将利用Arecibo激光雷达和全天空成像仪以及Sounders和GPS总电子含量（TEC）数据。理论研究将集中在中层/下热层（MLT）区域中中性运动的湍流特性，该区域将使用多尺度分析进行研究，以及对电离层结构的后果。建模工作将结合一个新开发的全三维等离子体动力学模型。 本科生和研究生将参加这项工作，并将在加勒比海进行公共外展活动。