HR: 1340h
AN: SA33A-1056 [Abstracts]
TI: Pulsating Ion and Neutral Polar Winds
AU: * Gardner, L C
EM: lgardner@cc.usu.edu
AF: Utah State University, Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, 4405 Old Main Hill,
Logan, UT 84322-4405, United States
AU: Schunk, R W
EM: schunk@cc.usu.edu
AF: Utah State University, Center for Atmospheric and Space Sciences, 4405 Old Main Hill,
Logan, UT 84322-4405, United States
AB:
New simulations at Utah State University using the 3-D neutral and ion polar wind code with realistic convection
and precipitation inputs for a large geomagnetic storm have been conducted. The model solves for five species;
H+, O+, Hs, Os, and e- in a background neutral atmosphere. The simulation shows a
pulsing of the total particle outflow on the order of hours, with large outflows occurring over spatially separated
areas, principally in the auroral oval. The neutral steam outflows (the neutral polar wind) are produced in charge
exchange reactions between the ion polar wind and the background thermal and geocoronal neutrals. The
neutral hydrogen stream total hemispheric number flux is highly correlated to the electron precipitation energy
input, the H+ and O+ ions show large upward and downward fluxes related to the amount of heating
added to the auroral oval by the precipitating electrons, and the neutral oxygen stream particles show a downward
total number flux at all times due to a lack of kinetic affects in the model. Ionosphere/magnetosphere coupling
through mass, momentum, and energy transport has been calculated as a flow from an entire polar cap region in
terms of the number of particles per second. This number is typically on the order of 1025 particles/sec for
H+, and 1025-1026 particle/sec for O+, which is consistent with the model results. Also, the
outflow flux at high-latitudes has been shown, using satellite data, to vary temporally by as much as four orders of
magnitude, and the model results also demonstrate the temporal variability of the vertical flows.
DE: 2437 Ionospheric dynamics
DE: 2441 Ionospheric storms (7949)
DE: 2475 Polar cap ionosphere
DE: 7837 Neutral particles (2151)
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting