Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields

A three-dimensional, regional simulation is used to investigate ionospheric plasma density irregularities associated with Equatorial Spread F. This simulation is first driven with background electric fields derived from ISR observations. Next, the simulation is driven with electric fields taken from...

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Main Authors: Aaron Kirchman, David Hysell, Tzu-Wei Fang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-01-01
Series:Frontiers in Physics
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Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2024.1488935/full
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author Aaron Kirchman
David Hysell
Tzu-Wei Fang
author_facet Aaron Kirchman
David Hysell
Tzu-Wei Fang
author_sort Aaron Kirchman
collection DOAJ
description A three-dimensional, regional simulation is used to investigate ionospheric plasma density irregularities associated with Equatorial Spread F. This simulation is first driven with background electric fields derived from ISR observations. Next, the simulation is driven with electric fields taken from the WAM-IPE global model. The discrepancies between the two electric fields, particularly in the evening prereversal enhancement, produce disagreeing simulation results. The WAM-IPE electric fields are then studied through a simple sensitivity analysis of a field-line integrated electrodynamics model similar to the one used in WAM-IPE. This analysis suggests there is no simple tuning of ion composition or neutral winds that accurately reproduce ISR-observed electric fields on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, the persistency of the prereversal enhancement structure over time is studied and compared to measurements from the ICON satellite. These results suggest that WAM-IPE electric fields generally have a shorter and more variable correlation time than those measured by ICON.
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spelling doaj-art-5ec7eb659bc241e5a747920514d5f0fc2025-01-09T05:10:16ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Physics2296-424X2025-01-011210.3389/fphy.2024.14889351488935Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fieldsAaron Kirchman0David Hysell1Tzu-Wei Fang2Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United StatesDepartment of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, United StatesNOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, CO, United StatesA three-dimensional, regional simulation is used to investigate ionospheric plasma density irregularities associated with Equatorial Spread F. This simulation is first driven with background electric fields derived from ISR observations. Next, the simulation is driven with electric fields taken from the WAM-IPE global model. The discrepancies between the two electric fields, particularly in the evening prereversal enhancement, produce disagreeing simulation results. The WAM-IPE electric fields are then studied through a simple sensitivity analysis of a field-line integrated electrodynamics model similar to the one used in WAM-IPE. This analysis suggests there is no simple tuning of ion composition or neutral winds that accurately reproduce ISR-observed electric fields on a day-to-day basis. Additionally, the persistency of the prereversal enhancement structure over time is studied and compared to measurements from the ICON satellite. These results suggest that WAM-IPE electric fields generally have a shorter and more variable correlation time than those measured by ICON.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2024.1488935/fullequatorial spread FWAM-IPEplasma driftsprereversal enhancementequatorial electrodynamics
spellingShingle Aaron Kirchman
David Hysell
Tzu-Wei Fang
Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields
Frontiers in Physics
equatorial spread F
WAM-IPE
plasma drifts
prereversal enhancement
equatorial electrodynamics
title Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields
title_full Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields
title_fullStr Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields
title_full_unstemmed Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields
title_short Regional simulations of equatorial spread F driven with, and an analysis of, WAM-IPE electric fields
title_sort regional simulations of equatorial spread f driven with and an analysis of wam ipe electric fields
topic equatorial spread F
WAM-IPE
plasma drifts
prereversal enhancement
equatorial electrodynamics
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphy.2024.1488935/full
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AT tzuweifang regionalsimulationsofequatorialspreadfdrivenwithandananalysisofwamipeelectricfields