Comparison of Optical and Total Electron Content (TEC) Measurements in Polar Cap Patches

Physics – Optics

Scientific paper

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0310 Airglow And Aurora, 2475 Polar Cap Ionosphere, 2776 Polar Cap Phenomena, 6934 Ionospheric Propagation (0689, 2487, 3285, 4275, 4455)

Scientific paper

Plasma densities in the ionospheric polar cap are often extremely structured over the entire range of spatial scales. Polar cap patches represent the dominant structures in the scale range of 100-1000 km, and are typically associated with increased irregularities at the 100-1000 meter scale responsible for scintillation of radio signals. The horizontal structuring of F-region ionization at any scale is difficult to determine in two dimensions due to the lack of plasma measurement techniques that are both sufficiently direct and cover large horizontal areas. We have carried out numerous comparisons of 630.0 and 777.4 nm all-sky optical images and line-of-sight TEC measurements in the polar cap to determine the correspondence between observed optical structure and plasma density, and to interpolate between widely spaced TEC measurement points. Optical images from periods when high correlations exist between optical emission intensity and slant TEC can be used to unambiguously examine the structure of the plasma in 2 dimensions over large areas at a variety of scale sizes. We have determined the typical scale sizes, elongation ratios, and orientation relative to the noon-midnight and dominant flow axes for a large number of polar cap patches, and found cases of extreme elongation in some structures. Further application of the optics-TEC correlation process may allow generation of high-resolution all-sky maps of TEC for use in mitigating space weather impacts on affected systems.

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