The dynamic cusp at low altitudes: A case study combining Viking, DMSP, and Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar observations

Technical Report · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1992

OSTI ID:6200551

Watermann, J; Delabeaujardiere, O; Lummerzheim, D; Woch, J; Newell, P T; Potemra, T A; Rich, F J; Shapshak, M

A case study involving data from three satellites and a ground-based radar are presented. Focus is on a detailed discussion of observations of the dynamic cusp made on 24 Sep. 1986 in the dayside high-latitude ionosphere and interior magnetosphere. The relevant data from space-borne and ground-based sensors is presented. They include in-situ particle and field measurements from the DMSP-F7 and Viking spacecraft and Sondrestrom radar observations of the ionosphere. These data are augmented by observations of the IMF and the solar wind plasma. The observations are compared with predictions about the ionospheric response to the observed particle precipitation, obtained from an auroral model. It is shown that observations and model calculations fit well and provide a picture of the ionospheric footprint of the cusp in an invariant latitude versus local time frame. The combination of Viking, Sondrestrom radar, and IMP-8 data suggests that an ionospheric signature of the dynamic cusp was observed. Its spatial variation over time which appeared closely related to the southward component of the IMF was monitored.

• Research Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 6200551
• Report Number(s): N-93-28842; NASA-CR--193152; NAS--1.26:193152; CNN: NASW-4603; NAGW-3037; NSF ATM-90-22197; NSF ATM-91-08193; NSF ATM-91-12680; NSF ATM-92-02795; NSF ATM-88-22560
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661320* -- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
DYNAMICS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
IONOSPHERE
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MECHANICS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
POLAR CUSP
RADAR
RANGE FINDERS