Resolving the High‐Latitude Ionospheric Irregularity Spectra Using Multi‐Point Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements

Goodwin, Lindsay; Perry, G. W.

doi:10.1029/2022rs007475

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The large Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (Super darn ) can effectively observe the large-scale convection of plasma in the ionosphere, by analyzing a multitude of individual irregularities 16 , and incoherent scatter radars (ISRs), such as the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association ( eiscat ) 17 observe the motions of a myriad individual electrons simultaneously, yielding scale-dependent information about the growth of irregularities 18 . Recently, ISR technology was used to reconstruct the ionospheric irregularity field, aggregating altitude-dependent multi-point plasma measurements 19 .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring small-scale plasma irregularities in the high-latitude E- and F-regions simultaneously

Ivarsen

St.-Maurice

Hussey

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ionosphere, Earth’s space environment, exhibits widespread turbulent structuring, or plasma irregularities, visualized by the auroral displays seen in Earth’s polar regions. Such plasma irregularities have been studied for decades, but plasma turbulence remains an elusive phenomenon. We combine scale-dependent measurements from a ground-based radar with satellite observations to characterize small-scale irregularities simultaneously in the bottomside and topside ionosphere and perform a statistical analysis on an aggregate from both instruments over time. We demonstrate the clear mapping of information vertically along the ionospheric altitude column, for field-perpendicular wavelengths down to 1.5 km. Our results paint a picture of the northern hemisphere high-latitude ionosphere as a turbulent system that is in a constant state of growth and decay; energy is being constantly injected and dissipated as the system is continuously attempting an accelerated return to equilibrium. We connect the widespread irregularity dissipation to Pedersen conductance in the E-region, and discuss the similarities between irregularities found in the polar cap and in the auroral region in that context. We find that the effects of a conducting E-region on certain turbulent properties (small-scale spectral index) is near ubiquitous in the dataset, and so we suggest that the electrodynamics of a conducting E-region must be considered when discussing plasma turbulence at high latitudes. This intimate relationship opens up the possibility that E-region conductivity is associated with the generation of F-region irregularities, though further studies are needed to assess that possibility.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring small-scale plasma irregularities in the high-latitude E- and F-regions simultaneously

Ivarsen

St.-Maurice

Hussey

et al. 2023

Sci Rep

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The large Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) can effectively observe the large-scale convection of plasma in the ionosphere, by analyzing a multitude of individual irregularities [ 16 ], and incoherent scatter radars (ISRs), such as the European Incoherent Scatter Scientific Association (EISCAT) [ 17 ] observe the motions of a myriad individual electrons simultaneously, yielding scale-dependent information about the growth of irregularities [ 18 ]. Recently, ISR technology was used to reconstruct the ionospheric irregularity field, aggregating altitudedependent multi-point plasma measurements [ 19 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring Small-scale Plasma Irregularities in the High-latitude E- and F-regions Simultaneously

Ivarsen

St.-Maurice

Hussey

et al. 2023

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ionosphere, Earth’s space environment, exhibits widespread turbulent structuring, or plasma irregularities, visualized by the auroral displays seen in Earth’s polar regions. Such plasma irregularities have been studied for decades, but plasma turbulence remains an elusive phenomenon. We combine scale-dependent measurements from a ground-based radar with satellite observations to characterize small-scale irregularities simultaneously in the bottomside and topside ionosphere and perform a statistical analysis on an aggregate from both instruments over time. We demonstrate the clear mapping of information vertically along the ionospheric altitude column, for field-perpendicular wavelengths down to 1.5 km. Our results paint a picture of the northern hemisphere high-latitude ionosphere as a turbulent system that is in a constant state of growth and decay; energy is being constantly injected and dissipated as the system is continuously attempting an accelerated return to equilibrium. We connect the widespread irregularity dissipation to Pedersen conductance in the E-region, and discuss the similarities between irregularities found in the polar cap and in the auroral region in that context. Due to this intimate relationship between high-latitude irregularities and E-region ionization, we suggest that the electrodynamics of a conducting E-region should be considered when discussing plasma turbulence at high latitudes.

show abstract

“…Farley et al (1981) introduced interferometry to probe a greater plasma velocity field. Recently, Goodwin and Perry (2022) reconstructed the ionospheric irregularity field by combining fixed-altitude multi-point radar measurements with modeled plasma density altitude profiles. In this context, the present study considers individual radar backscatter echoes as two-dimensional point clouds.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Distribution of Small‐Scale Irregularities in the E‐Region, and Its Tendency to Match the Spectrum of Field‐Aligned Current Structures in the F‐Region

et al. 2023

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We associate new data from icebear, a coherent scatter radar located in Saskatchewan, Canada, with scale‐dependent physics in the ionosphere. We subject the large‐scale icebear 3D echo patterns (treated as 2D point clouds) to a data analysis technique hitherto never applied to the ionosphere, a technique that is widely applied in cosmological red‐shift surveys to characterize the spatial clustering of galaxies. The technique results in a novel method to calculate the spatial power spectral density of the greater ionospheric irregularity field. We compare results from this method to in‐situ plasma density and magnetic field observations from the Swarm mission. We show that there is a remarkable similarity between echo clustering spectra in the E‐region and the field‐aligned current structuring spectrum observed in the F‐region: a clear and characteristic preferred scale (5 km) both in the E‐ and F‐region spectra. We discuss the possibility that this represents evidence of an energy injection into the ionospheric irregularity field via energetic particle precipitation, but offer alternative interpretations with wider connotations for the ionosphere‐magnetosphere system. These findings open new and promising avenues of research for the study of the location of ionospheric scatter echoes with 3D information. It constitutes a novel way to consider the pattern of ionospheric irregularities over wide fields of view when there is an abundance of radar echoes, which allows for the analysis of radar data as point clouds.

show abstract

Resolving the High‐Latitude Ionospheric Irregularity Spectra Using Multi‐Point Incoherent Scatter Radar Measurements

Cited by 4 publications

References 44 publications

Measuring small-scale plasma irregularities in the high-latitude E- and F-regions simultaneously

Measuring small-scale plasma irregularities in the high-latitude E- and F-regions simultaneously

Measuring Small-scale Plasma Irregularities in the High-latitude E- and F-regions Simultaneously

The Distribution of Small‐Scale Irregularities in the E‐Region, and Its Tendency to Match the Spectrum of Field‐Aligned Current Structures in the F‐Region

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About