Dual Rocket Observations of Large, Intermediate, and Short Scale Electric Fields in the Lower Auroral Ionosphere and Their Contribution to Joule Heating

Details Dual Rocket Observations of Large, Intermediate, and Short Scale Electric Fields in the Lower Auroral Ionosphere and Their Contribution to Joule Heating Dual Rocket Observations of Large, Intermediate, and Short Scale Electric Fields in the Lower Auroral Ionosphere and Their Contribution to Joule Heating

Dec 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003agufmsa21c..05p&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2003, abstract #SA21C-05

Other

2407 Auroral Ionosphere (2704), 2411 Electric Fields (2712), 2437 Ionospheric Dynamics, 2439 Ionospheric Irregularities, 2463 Plasma Convection

Scientific paper

0n March 27, 2003, a multiple rocket and radar investigation was carried out from Poker Flat, Alaska to investigate the complex electrodynamics and neutral-plasma coupling inherent to the high latitude, lower ionosphere (100-200 km) and in particular to quantify the Joule heating in this region. Measurements within these altitudes gathered along vertical trajectories permit the Joule heating to be calculated where the Pedersen conductivity maximizes and where the ratio of the ion-neutral collision frequency to the ion gyro frequency varies considerably. Two instrumented rockets were launched into a post-midnight aurora within 3 minutes of each other, achieving apogees near 200 km while a third rocket was launched a minute later that released TMA trails to measure the neutral wind velocity. In this presentation, we focus on the in situ measurements of DC, quasi-DC, and AC electric fields gathered using the double probe technique, although we also use the measurements of plasma density, energetic electrons, and suprathermal ions to calculate conductivities and other important parameters related to Joule heating. In addition, data from the imaging coherent scatter radar provide information concerning the ambient plasma drifts and enable the in situ data to be placed in context. During the upleg of each rocket, the in situ measurements revealed ~50mV/m DC electric fields directed towards the equator that, for each rocket, became considerably structured near apogee and during the downleg portions of their trajectories. Each payload encountered intermediate (10 km - 100 km) and small scale (10m - 10 km) electric fields with the largest amplitudes along their paths typically within the range of 5-25 mV/m. Such waves can contribute significantly to Joule heating, although they are frequently not included in models due to their small spatial scales. The rocket payloads also encountered intense (~20-30 mV/m) Farley-Buneman two-stream waves with very short wavelengths (1-10m) in the auroral electrojet region (90-118 km). We use the neutral wind measurements to establish the relative frame of the ion and neutral gases and calculate the Joule heating associated with the electric fields at all scales as a function of altitude.

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