Mathematics – Logic
Scientific paper
Aug 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001phdt........22s&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PhD). BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Source DAI-B 62/02, p. 899, Aug 2001, 178 pages.
Mathematics
Logic
Scientific paper
The terrestrial environment is influenced continuously by energetic particles and radiation from the Sun that heat and ionize the gases of Earth's upper atmosphere. The absorption of solar energy by atmospheric oxygen leads to a temperature increase from the coldest point in the atmosphere near 90 km altitude, to the hot, nearly isothermal temperatures seen above 300 km. This region is called the thermosphere. Ionization of atmospheric species leads to the formation of a series of plasma layers in this same altitude range. Called the ionosphere, this minor population of charged particles controls much of the dynamics that occur at these altitudes because its principal motion is tied to the Earth's magnetic field lines. Understanding and predicting these interesting, but complex, solar- terrestrial interactions is important for the purpose of mitigating their sometimes hazardous effect on the technological infrastructure of our society. My research concerns the remote sensing of the ionosphere and thermosphere using the EUV/FUV emissions they produce through chemical and physical interactions. I built a suite of spectrographs on the TERRIERS satellite. My laboratory calibration tests for these instruments demonstrated a sensitivity 100-1000 times that of previously flown spectrographs. I have demonstrated the use of tomography, commonly applied to medical imaging problems, to three different remote sensing configurations: a low-altitude spinning satellite, a sensor that only scans near the horizon and limb of the Earth, and a high-altitude imager that obtains spectroscopic images of the full disk of the Earth. Finally, I have used the STP 78-1 and ARGOS satellites to make the first observations of EUV/FUV aurorae produced near the geomagnetic equator during both the daytime and nighttime. These emissions have been previously observed during the night, where the ambient airglow is small. I have combined data from many orbits to demonstrate that these equatorial aurorae are most likely produced by energetic neutral atoms that are created at higher altitudes during geomagnetic activity. My results show that ionospheric and thermospheric densities derived from EUV/FUV airglow may be in error by as much as 50% if this new emission source is ignored.
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