HR: 14:30h
AN: SA33C-04    [Abstracts]
TI: Characterization of Storm-Time E-region Electron Densities from TIMED/SABER 4.3 um Emission and Comparisons with Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements
AU: * Fernandez, J R
EM: jfernand@naic.edu
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Blvd., Mail Stop 401B, Hampton, VA 23681- 2199, United States
AU: Mertens, C J
EM: Christopher.J.Mertens@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Blvd., Mail Stop 401B, Hampton, VA 23681- 2199, United States
AU: Bilitza, D
EM: dieter.bilitza.1@gsfc.nasa.gov
AF: George Mason University, 4400 University Dr., MSN 4C6, Fairfax, VA 22030, United States
AU: Xu, X
EM: xiaojing_xu@ssaihq.com
AF: SSAI, Inc., 1 Enterprise Pkwy, Hampton, VA 23666, United States
AU: Russell, J M
EM: james.russell@hamptonu.edu
AF: Center for Atmospheric Sciences, Hampton University, 23 Tyler St., Hampton, VA 23688, United States
AU: Mlynczak, M G
EM: Martin.G.Mlynczak@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Langley Research Center, 21 Langley Blvd., Mail Stop 401B, Hampton, VA 23681- 2199, United States
AB: Observations of thermospheric infrared 4.3 um limb emission from the TIMED/SABER instrument have fostered the development of new data products, models, and analysis tools for the study of upper atmospheric and ionospheric response to solar-geomagnetic disturbances. Enhancements in nighttime 4.3 um emission during storm periods are due to vibrational excitation of NO+ (i.e., NO+(v)), caused by auroral dosing and subsequent ion-neutral chemical reactions, followed by radiative emission at 4.3 um. The fundamental observation-based quantity used to study the E-region from SABER 4.3 um emission measurements is the NO+(v) volume emission rate (VER). The NO+(v) VER is a new SABER data product and analysis tool which is derived by (1) removing the background CO2 infrared emission using SABER-based non-LTE radiation transfer models, and (2) by performing a standard Abel inversion on the residual radiance. We have found the NO+(v) VER to be a highly versatile data product, useful for characterizing the morphology of the E-region during solar-geomagnetic storms, studying E-region chemistry and energetics during auroral dosing, and for quantifying the enhancement in the E- region electron density as a response to magnetic disturbances. The end-goal of the latter study is to develop an empirical E-region storm-time correction to the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model. The IRI model is a widely used empirical model for the specification of ionospheric parameters and is recommended for international use by the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) and the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). However, the specification of the ionospheric response to solar-geomagnetic disturbances in IRI remains largely incomplete, and there is currently no storm-time correction to IRI parameters in the E-region. We report on the initial steps toward developing a correction to IRI E-region electron density, in which we study correlations between storm-time enhancements of NO+(v) VER and various solar-geomagnetic indices. In addition, we compare the SABER-derived NO+(v) VER peak enhancements and vertical structure during storm periods with measurements from high-latitude incoherent scatter radar, e.g., from the European Incoherent SCATer (EISCAT) radar facility.
DE: 0355 Thermosphere: composition and chemistry
DE: 0358 Thermosphere: energy deposition (3369)
DE: 2419 Ion chemistry and composition (0335)
DE: 2427 Ionosphere/atmosphere interactions (0335)
DE: 2441 Ionospheric storms (7949)
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting