[1] Polar cap ionospheric measurements are important for the complete understanding of the various processes in the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere system as well as for space weather applications. Currently, the polar cap region is lacking high temporal and spatial resolution ionospheric measurements because of the orbit limitations of space-based measurements and the sparse network providing ground-based measurements. Canada has a unique advantage in remedying this shortcoming because it has the most accessible landmass in the high Arctic regions, and the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) is designed to take advantage of Canadian geographic vantage points for a better understanding of the Sun-Earth system. CHAIN is a distributed array of ground-based radio instruments in the Canadian high Arctic. The instrument components of CHAIN are 10 high data rate Global Positioning System ionospheric scintillation and total electron content monitors and six Canadian Advanced Digital Ionosondes. Most of these instruments have been sited within the polar cap region except for two GPS reference stations at lower latitudes. This paper briefly overviews the scientific capabilities, instrument components, and deployment status of CHAIN. This paper also reports a GPS signal scintillation episode associated with a magnetospheric impulse event. More details of the CHAIN project and data can be found at http:// chain.physics.unb.ca/chain.

Abstract. Global positioning system scintillation and total electron content (TEC) data have been collected by ten specialized GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitors (GISTMs) of the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN). The phase scintillation index σ is obtained from the phase of the L1 signal sampled at 50 Hz. Maps of phase scintillation occurrence as a function of the altitude-adjusted corrected geomagnetic (AACGM) latitude and magnetic local time (MLT) are computed for the period from 2008 to 2013. Enhanced phase scintillation is collocated with regions that are known as ionospheric signatures of the coupling between the solar wind and magnetosphere. The phase scintillation mainly occurs on the dayside in the cusp where ionospheric irregularities convect at high speed, in the nightside auroral oval where energetic particle precipitation causes field-aligned irregularities with steep electron density gradients and in the polar cap where electron density patches that are formed from a tongue of ionization. Dependences of scintillation occurrence on season, solar and geomagnetic activity, and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation are investigated. The auroral phase scintillation shows semiannual variation with equinoctial maxima known to be associated with auroras, while in the cusp and polar cap the scintillation occurrence is highest in the autumn and winter months and lowest in summer. With rising solar and geomagnetic activity from the solar minimum to solar maximum, yearly maps of mean phase scintillation occurrence show gradual increase and expansion of enhanced scintillation regions both poleward and equatorward from the statistical auroral oval. The dependence of scintillation occurrence on the IMF orientation is dominated by increased scintillation in the cusp, expanded auroral oval and at subauroral latitudes for strongly southward IMF. In the polar cap, the IMF B Y polarity controls dawn-dusk asymmetries in scintillation occurrence collocated with a tongue of ionization for southward IMF and with sun-aligned arcs for northward IMF. In investigating the shape of scintillation-causing irregularities, the distributions of scintillation occurrence as a function of "off-meridian" and "off-shell" angles that are computed for the receiver-satellite ray at the ionospheric pierce point are found to suggest predominantly field-aligned irregularities in the auroral oval and L-shell-aligned irregularities in the cusp.

[1] Using ionospheric total electron content (TEC) measured by Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers of the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) we provide clear evidence for a systematic and propagating temporary TEC enhancement produced by compression of the magnetosphere due to a sudden increase in solar wind dynamic pressure. The magnetospheric compression is evident in THEMIS/GOES satellite data. Application of a GPS triangulation technique revealed that the TEC changes propagated with a speed of 3-6 km/s in the antisunward direction near noon and ∼8 km/s in the sunward direction in the pre-noon lower latitude sector. Characteristics of these TEC changes along with riometer absorption measurements seems to indicate that the TEC change is due to electron density enhancement in the F region and is possibly due to particle precipitation associated with sudden magnetospheric compression. Citation: Jayachandran, P. T

[1] GPS total electron content (TEC) has shown quasiperiodic oscillations of varying amplitude associated with poleward moving Sun-aligned arcs. The amplitude of TEC variations showed a maximum of $3 TECU and seemed to decrease as the arcs moved poleward from the source/generation region. Simultaneous DMSP data showed that fluctuations in TEC and optical intensification were caused by precipitation of high-energy (>500 eV) particles. Concurrent ionosonde observations also exhibited quasiperiodic variations (within limit of the resolution of the data) in peak ionospheric electron density of the ionosphere. Bottom height of the ionospheric layers produced by precipitating particles varied between 130 km (upper E region) and 300 km (F region), indicating variable particle precipitation energy. Frequency analysis of high-resolution TEC data showed a broad range of discrete frequency components from 1.60 mHz to 22.80 mHz present in the TEC oscillations, which may provide insight into the energization/modulation of precipitating particles by these oscillations. A broad distribution of equivalent vertical thickness of arcs was calculated using GPS TEC and ionosonde measurements of peak electron density. This distribution showed a minimum thickness of 21 km, a maximum of 84 km, and an average of 49 km. The equivalent vertical thickness also showed a linear relationship with bottomside height of the ionospheric layer (auroral arc). The relationship showed an increase in the vertical thickness with an increase in bottomside height of the layer. This relationship is a consequence of variations in the energy of the precipitating particles causing different ionospheric production profiles.Citation: Jayachandran, P. T., K. Hosokawa, K. Shiokawa, Y. Otsuka, C. Watson, S. C. Mushini, J. W. MacDougall, P. Prikryl, R. Chadwick, and T. D. Kelly (2012), GPS total electron content variations associated with poleward moving Sun-aligned arcs,

We examined evolution of Global Positioning System (GPS) scintillation during a substorm in the nightside high latitude ionosphere, using 1‐second phase and amplitude scintillation indices from the Canadian High Arctic Ionospheric Network (CHAIN) network. The traditional 1‐minute scintillation indices showed that the phase scintillation was dominant, while the amplitude scintillation was weak. However, the 1‐second amplitude scintillation occurred more often in association with major auroral structures (polar cap arc, growth phase arc, onset arc, poleward expanding arc, poleward boundary intensification, and diffuse aurora) that were detected by the THEMIS all‐sky imagers (ASIs). The 1‐minute index missed much of the amplitude fluctuations because they only lasted ∼10 seconds near a local peak or at the gradients of the auroral structures. The 1‐second phase scintillation was concurrent with the amplitude scintillation but was much weaker than the 1‐minute phase scintillation. The frequency spectral analysis showed that the spectral power above ∼1 Hz was diffractive and below ∼1 Hz was refractive. We suggest that the amplitude scintillation in the high‐latitude ionosphere is much more common than previously considered, and that a short time window of the order of 1 second should be used to detect the scintillation. The 1‐minute phase scintillation index is largely influenced by refractive effects due to total electron content (TEC) variations, and the spectral power below ∼1 Hz should be removed to identify diffractive scintillation.