HR: 10:50h
AN: SH51B-03    [PDF]
TI: Forecasting High-Latitude Ionospheric Electric Potentials and Currents
AU: * Weimer, D R
EM: dweimer@mrcnh.com
AF: Mission Research Corporation, 589 West Hollis Street, Nashua, NH 03062-1323 United States
AB: Improvements are being made to an empirical model of the high-latitude ionospheric electric potential, and its twin model of the ionospheric field-aligned currents (FAC). These models show the two-dimensional electric potential or FAC distribution as a function of the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). The FAC model, which is based on magnetic Euler potentials, can be used to predict geomagnetic perturbations on the ground. The two models together can also be used to produce maps of ionospheric Joule heating, or total integrated Joule heating, as a function of the IMF. The techniques used to obtain the recent improvements to these empirical models will be discussed. These models have been incorporated into a prototype computer program, which uses the real time, upstream IMF/solar wind measurements from the ACE spacecraft, to display predictive maps of various ionospheric electrodynamic parameters. This real-time program also uses the "minimum variance" technique to derive the tilt angle of the IMF phase fronts, and thus improve the timing accuracy of the predictions.
DE: 2134 Interplanetary magnetic fields
DE: 2409 Current systems (2708)
DE: 2411 Electric fields (2712)
DE: 2447 Modeling and forecasting
DE: 2475 Polar cap ionosphere
SC: SPA - Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting