TIMED/SABER Observations of the Storm-Time E-Region: Morphology, Chemistry, and Energetics

Details TIMED/SABER Observations of the Storm-Time E-Region: Morphology, Chemistry, and Energetics TIMED/SABER Observations of the Storm-Time E-Region: Morphology, Chemistry, and Energetics

Dec 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agufmsa12a..04m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #SA12A-04

Physics

0355 Thermosphere: Composition And Chemistry, 0358 Thermosphere: Energy Deposition (3369), 2419 Ion Chemistry And Composition (0335), 2427 Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0335), 2441 Ionospheric Storms (7949)

Scientific paper

A new data product derived from TIMED/SABER measurements of 4.3 um limb emission is the NO+(v) volume emission rate (VER). We have found NO+(v) VER to be versatile analysis tool for studying the E-region response to solar-geomagnetic storms. Enhancements in nighttime 4.3 um emission during storm periods are due to vibrational excitation of NO+ (i.e., NO+(v)), caused by auroral dosing and subsequent ion-neutral chemical reactions, followed by radiative emission at 4.3 um. The NO+(v) VER is derived by (1) removing the background CO2 infrared emission using SABER observations and non-LTE radiation transfer models, and (2) by performing a standard Abel inversion on the residual radiance. Since NO+ is the terminal E-region ion, the NO+(v) VER is an excellent proxy for characterizing the morphology of the E-region response to magnetic disturbances. Analysis of the April 2002 and Halloween 2003 storm periods reveal spatial structure in the NO+(v) VER that is difficult to understand: large enhancements at mid-latitudes, well outside the region of strong auroral precipitation, and a bi- modal distribution in the vertical peak. The maximum NO+(v) VER for each profile occurs at roughly 110 km or 130 km. The International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) model indicates that the E-region electron density peak always occurs at roughly 110 km. In this paper we seek to understand the horizontal and vertical structure of the SABER- derived NO+(v) VER during the April 2002 and Halloween 2003 storm periods by utilizing both measurements and detailed modeling of the E-region chemistry, energetics, and radiation transfer. The morphology of the SABER-derived NO+(v) will be compared with radio occultation profiles of E-region electron densities measured by CHAMP, and with incoherent scatter radar measurement data available through the CEDAR database. In addition, we will model the NO+(v) VER by dynamically driving the field-line interhemispheric plasma (FLIP) model with particle precipitation energy characteristics observed by the NOAA/POES satellites. The FLIP model provides the ion and neutral density inputs for our NO+(v) kinetics model, which provides the NO+(v) densities for the 4.3 um non-LTE radiation transfer calculations used simulate the NO+(v) VER. The modeled NO+(v) VER provides a diagnostic approach to understanding the mechanisms responsible for the spatial structure observed in the SABER-derived NO+(v) VER.

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