HR: 13:55h
AN: SA22B-02    [PDF]
TI: Comparison of 30 Day Continuous EISCAT Svalbard ISR Data with an Ionospheric Model Driven by SuperDARN Convection Patterns
AU: * David, M
EM: mike@sim.cass.usu.edu
AF: Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University 4405 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4405 United States
AU: Sojka, J J
EM: fasojka@sojka.cass.usu.edu
AF: Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University 4405 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4405 United States
AU: Schunk, R W
EM: schunk@cc.usu.edu
AF: Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, Utah State University 4405 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-4405 United States
AU: Greenwald, R A
EM: ray.greenwald@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University 11100 Johns Hopkins Raod, Laurel, MD 21784 United States
AU: van Eyken, T
EM: tony.van.eyken@eiscat.com
AF: EISCAT, Box 164, Kiruna, SE-981 23 Sweden
AB: During October and November 2002 the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar at Svalbard, Norway, operated continuously over a 30 day period. Altitude profiles of electron density are available at high time resolution throughout the study period. The observations collected during this campaign present an unprecedented opportunity for model/data comparisons, of both a space weather and a climatological nature. The Utah State University Time Dependent Ionospheric Model (TDIM) has been used to simulate the ionosphere above Svalbard throughout the month-long study period. In the first stage of this study, in which statistical-empirical representations of the convection electric field and auroral precipitation patterns were used, the model/data comparison brought us insight into the previously underestimated importance of the thermospheric wind, and pointed to the insufficiency of the model commonly used to represent the wind. However, this study failed to address the issue of day to day variability, the space weather. Now, a new series of simulations has been carried out, incorporating SuperDARN convection patterns based on the northern hemisphere distribution of SuperDARN radars operating during the EISCAT month-long run. These SuperDARN observations provide a high time resolution weather variability in the high latitude convection patterns. As plasma transport is known to have a dominant influence upon plasma structuring in the polar cap, this allows us to appreciate the importance of having detailed information about the prevailing electric field conditions when attempting to model the ionosphere at the level of space weather, rather than being limited to the use of empirical models suitable for climatological studies. Results of these new studies emphasizing the F-layer day to day variability will be presented.
DE: 2431 Ionosphere/magnetosphere interactions (2736)
DE: 2447 Modeling and forecasting
DE: 2463 Plasma convection
SC: SPA - Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting