Thermospheric Parameters during Ionospheric G-Conditions

• Main Authors: Loredana Perrone, Andrey V. Mikhailov, Dario Sabbagh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-08-01
• Series: Remote Sensing
• Subjects: ionospheric G-condition; thermospheric parameters; ionosonde; Incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR); CHAMP; GOCE satellite
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/13/17/3440

For the first time thermospheric parameters (neutral composition, exospheric temperature and vertical plasma drift related to thermospheric winds) have been inferred for ionospheric G-conditions observed with Millstone Hill ISR on 11–13 September 2005; 13 June 2005, and 15 July 2012. The earlier developed method to extract a consistent set of thermospheric parameters from ionospheric observations has been revised to solve the problem in question. In particular CHAMP/STAR and GOCE neutral gas density observations were included into the retrieval process. It was found that G-condition days were distinguished by enhanced exospheric temperature and decreased by ~2 times of the column atomic oxygen abundance in a comparison to quiet reference days, the molecular nitrogen column abundance being practically unchanged. The inferred upward plasma drift corresponds to strong ~90 m/s equatorward thermospheric wind presumably related to strong auroral heating on G-condition days.