HR: 1340h
AN: SA33A-1067    [Abstracts]
TI: Low and middle latitude westward thermospheric wind jets during geomagnetic storms
AU: * Wang, W
EM: wbwang@ucar.edu
AF: High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research, P. O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307,
AU: Burns, A G
EM: aburns@ucar.edu
AF: High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research, P. O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307,
AU: Wiltberger, M
EM: wiltbemj@ucar.edu
AF: High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research, P. O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307,
AU: Solomon, S C
EM: stans@ucar.edu
AF: High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research, P. O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307,
AU: Killeen, T L
EM: killeen@ucar.edu
AF: High Altitude Observatory National Center for Atmospheric Research, P. O. Box 3000, Boulder, CO 80307,
AB: Previous studies have shown that at low and middle latitudes zonal thermospheric winds can be significantly enhanced between ~150 km and 200km, forming westward jets during and after major geomagnetic storms. In this presentation we study these jets using the Coupled Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere (CMIT) model. We found that: 1) there are significant enhancements of westward neutral wind at low and middle latitudes during and after the storm around 180 km in the model simulations; 2) a diagnostic analysis of the model outputs indicates that momentum advection from the high latitudes to the low and middle latitudes are the cause of these neutral wind jets; and 3) the specific altitude range in which the jets occur is related to the height distribution of the ion drag coefficients at high latitudes.
DE: 0355 Thermosphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0358 Thermosphere: energy deposition (3369)
DE: 2427 Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions (0335)
DE: 2431 Ionosphere/magnetosphere interactions (2736)
DE: 2437 Ionospheric dynamics
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting