HR: 13:40h
AN: SA22B-01    [PDF]
TI: Direct Comparison of DMSP and SuperDARN Measurements of Ion Flows in the Polar Ionosphere
AU: * Hairston, M R
EM: hairston@utdallas.edu
AF: Center for Space Sciences University of Texas at Dallas, PO Box 830688 FO22, Richardson, TX 75083-0688 United States
AU: Ruohoniemi, J M
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory Johns Hopkins University, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723-6099 United States
AU: Shepherd, S
AF: Dartmouth College, 8000 Cummings Hall, Hanover, NH 03755 United States
AB: The horizontal convective ion flow in the polar ionosphere plays a key role in characterizing the conditions connecting the Earth's ionosphere with the magnetosphere and the solar wind. Currently there are two methods of directly measuring the horizontal ion flow in the F-layer: the ion flow detectors onboard the polar-orbiting DMSP satellites and using the radar signals detected by the SuperDARN radar arrays. Each method has its own strengths and limitations, but in the regions where they overlap the question arises over whether their measurements match or not. To date some informal studies have shown a fair amount of agreement, but no systematic comparison has ever been done before this. We have identified a set of over 50 events during 2001 when there were good data from SuperDARN corresponding to periods when the DMSP satellites passed through their fields of view. These events occur under all IMF conditions and during various Kp levels. We present the results of the first look at four of these events that contain six or more DMSP passes. We compare the measured horizontal ion flows observed by both sets of instruments to determine how closely they match. In addition we compare the polar cap potential drop measured by the DMSP-F13 satellite with the potential calculated by SuperDARN using a combination of radar observations and model predictions
DE: 2403 Active experiments
DE: 2437 Ionospheric dynamics
DE: 2447 Modeling and forecasting
DE: 2475 Polar cap ionosphere
SC: SPA - Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting