HR: 1340h
AN: SA33A-1132    [Abstracts]
TI: Theoretical Plasma Density Distribution at low Latitudes: Comparison of Neutral Wind Models
AU: * Basu, B
EM: Bamandas.Basu@hanscom.af.mil
AF: Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 United States
AU: Retterer, J M
AF: Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 United States
AU: Beaujardiere, O d
AF: Air Force Research Laboratory, Space Vehicles Directorate, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731 United States
AU: Valladares, C E
AF: Boston College, 885 Center Street, Newton, MA 02459 United States
AB: Theoretical calculations of electron density distribution in the nighttime equatorial ionosphere are presented. The calculations are done by assimilating plasma drift velocity measured by Jicamarca incoherent scatter radar into the low-latitude ambient plasma density model (PBMod), which has been developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in support of the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) mission. Specifically, the F region average values of the drift measurements for fourteen days in 2002 (April 15 - 17, May 31 - June 1, June 3 - 4, October 8 - 10, and November 11 - 14), representing both equinox and solstice conditions, are used in the calculations. The horizontal components of the neutral wind velocity, which are important input parameters for PBMod, are specified by any of the available empirical models, such as the Hedin (HWM) model and the Vector Spherical Harmonics (VSH) model. The results obtained from the two neutral wind models are compared and contrasted in order to illustrate the influence of neutral wind model on the electron density distribution. Particular emphasis is given on the altitude profiles of electron density (EDP) and the latitudinal profiles of the total electron content (TEC) as a function of time. The calculated latitudinal profiles of TEC are then compared with the profiles obtained from the TEC's measured by a chain of GPS receivers, in order to examine the relative performance of the two neutral wind models.
DE: 2411 Electric fields (2712)
DE: 2415 Equatorial ionosphere
DE: 2437 Ionospheric dynamics
DE: 2447 Modeling and forecasting
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting