Thermal ion upwelling in the high-altitude ionosphere. Doctoral thesis

Technical Report · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1990

OSTI ID:5523668

Cannata, R W

High latitude observations of thermal ion outflows, traditionally known as the polar wind, and heavy ion upwellings, consisting chiefly of heated O+, suggest that the terrestrial ionosphere acts as an important,and at times,dominant source of ions for the magnetosphere. The topside ionospheric processes responsible for modulating both types of polar ion flows were examined to quantify the magnitudes and compositional variability of steady-state polar wind flows and to identify the role of low-altitude frictional heating in transient heavy (0+) upwellings. Theoretical and experimental approaches were used to elucidate the high-latitude processes that influence ionospheric source strength and transient behavior. A time-dependent hydrodynamic model was used to examine solar cycle and seasonal dependencies under steady-state assumptions. Seasonal influences were found with large wintertime flux variations for both ions caused by ionization source strengths. A marked shift towards 0+ enriched upwellings occurred at solar maximum and for wintertime, at certain noontime locations. The role of low-altitude ion frictional heating was examined by coupling the National Center for Atmospheric Research - Thermosphere/Ionosphere General Circulation Model (NCAR-TIGCM) to the polar wind model to specify time-dependent frictional heating during a period of observed high-altitude O+ outflow. Preferential 0+ heating resulted in a factor of four increase in modeled 0+ fluxes, which coincides in both space and time with the observed heavy ion outflows. Finally, the role of frictional heating and global heating morphology was related to observations of high-altitude ion outflows using Dynamics Explorer-2 satellite data and incoherent scatter radar observations.

• Research Organization: Air Force Inst. of Tech., Wright-Patterson AFB, OH (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5523668
• Report Number(s): AD-A-232372/3/XAB; AFIT/CI/CIA--90-035D
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ALTITUDE
CHARGED PARTICLES
CURRENTS
DISTURBANCES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
FLUID MECHANICS
FRICTION
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
HEATING
HEAVY IONS
HYDRODYNAMICS
INCOHERENT SCATTERING
ION DRIFT
IONIC COMPOSITION
IONIZATION
IONOSPHERE
IONS
LATITUDE EFFECT
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MECHANICS
MORPHOLOGY
OXYGEN IONS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
RADAR
RANGE FINDERS
SCATTERING
SOLAR CYCLE
TIME DEPENDENCE
TRANSIENTS
VARIATIONS
WIND