Physics
Scientific paper
Dec 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003agufmsa32a..01f&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #SA32A-01
Physics
0358 Thermosphere: Energy Deposition, 2415 Equatorial Ionosphere, 2427 Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0335)
Scientific paper
In the absence of drag, zonally averaged meridional pressure gradients drive purely zonal winds. However, the ions present in a weakly ionized thermosphere are constrained by electromagnetic forces and introduce a drag on the fluid. Zonal winds are slowed, and a global meridional circulation develops that introduces neutral composition changes and a feedback on the ionosphere. At high latitudes, where the magnetospheric convection electric fields force plasma to high velocities, collisions with the neutral atmosphere imparts a momentum source driving winds of many hundreds of meters per second. In addition, inertial forces introduce large asymmetries in the wind magnitudes expected in the dawn and dusk sector of the auroral oval. Sudden changes in high latitude forcing drive global-scale gravity wave surges. These surges propagate towards the equator, transmit new pressure fields, and impact the global wind field. At low latitudes, the Coriolis force tends to zero, leading to possibility of unforced zonal winds. Equatorial electrodynamics can move plasma and produce regions where ion drag is virtually zero, allowing large zonal winds to emerge.
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