HR: 0800h
AN: SA21B-0348    [Abstracts]
TI: Storm Time Effects on the Low- to Mid-Latitude Ionosphere
AU: Joyce, G
EM: joyce@ppd.nrl.navy.mil
AF: George Mason University, 1222 Braddock Road, Fairfax, VA 22321 United States
AU: * Huba, J
EM: huba@ppd.nrl.navy.mil
AF: Naval Research Laboratory, Plasma Physics Division, Washington, DC 20375 United States
AU: Sazykin, S
EM: sazykin@rice.edu
AF: Rice University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Houston, TX 77251 United States
AU: Wolf, R
EM: wolf@rice.edu
AF: Rice University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Houston, TX 77251 United States
AU: Spiro, R
EM: spiro@rice.edu
AF: Rice University, Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Houston, TX 77251 United States
AB: The details of how magnetospherically driven penetration electric fields couple to the mid- and low-latitude ionosphere and generate large scale variations and structure in the plasma density is of paramount importance to the NASA Living with a Star Program. We have developed a computational model for the self-consistent modeling of the coupled inner magnetosphere-ionosphere system. The approach is to combine two existing, but compatible, computer models which treat different parts of the physical system: the Rice Convection Model (RCM), which models the electrodynamics of the inner magnetosphere; and SAMI3 (Sami3 is Also a Model of the Ionosphere), which treats the physics of the low- and mid-latitude ionosphere. The fundamental coupling of RCM and SAMI3 is through the electrostatic potential $\Phi$ and the ionospheric conductance. The essence of the coupling scheme is as follows: (1) SAMI3 will provide the ionospheric conductance to RCM, (2) RCM will solve the potential equation to determine $\Phi$ and the electric field, and (3) RCM will then provide the electric field back to SAMI3. Thus, the coupled model provides a self-consistent description of the ionosphere/inner-magnetosphere system to investigate the effects of penetration electric fields on the low- to mid-latitude ionosphere. We will present an overview of this program and preliminary results. \medskip \noindent Research supported by NASA and ONR.
DE: 7519 Flares
DE: 2435 Ionospheric disturbances
DE: 2443 Midlatitude ionosphere
DE: 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions
DE: 2788 Storms and substorms
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting