HR: 0800h
AN: SA31A-0358    [Abstracts]
TI: Simultaneous mapping of large-scale plasma structures and convection with the SuperDARN HF radars
AU: * Ruohoniemi, J M
EM: mike.ruohoniemi@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Oksavik, K
EM: kjellmar.oksavik@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Greenwald, R A
EM: ray.greenwald@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Baker, J B
EM: jo.baker@jhuapl.edu
AF: The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AB: Large-scale electric fields generated by the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere couple to the high-latitude ionosphere via the highly conducting geomagnetic field lines. The resulting ExB drift of ionospheric plasma redistributes the ionization and contributes to the formation of irregularities over a vast range of spatial scales. These effects can degrade the performance of communication, surveillance, and GPS systems. In this talk we discuss the application of the SuperDARN suite of HF radars to the mapping of large-scale structures in the ionosphere and the relation of plasma structuring to the convection electric field. We show that the distribution of HF backscatter often evolves in a manner consistent with the background convection pattern. There is thus the possibility of using the HF backscatter to simultaneously image the propagation of structures such as patches and blobs under the control of the electric field. We describe the identification and tracking of structures in the ionospheric plasma and the relationship to convection. Evidence of the entrainment of mid-latitude plasma into polar cap flow is sought by comparing high-latitude SuperDARN mappings with observations of ionospheric dynamics made with the new HF radar operating at Wallops Island, Virginia.
DE: 2437 Ionospheric dynamics
DE: 2439 Ionospheric irregularities
DE: 2443 Midlatitude ionosphere
DE: 2712 Electric fields (2411)
DE: 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions (2431)
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005