Causes of interhemispheric asymmetries in the ionosphere

ROSES ID: NNH19ZDA001N      Selection Year: 2019      

Program Element: Focused Science Topic

Principal Investigator: Astrid Maute

Affiliation(s): University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Project Member(s):
Solomon, Stanley C. Co-I University Corporation For Atmospheric Research (UCAR)
Anderson, Brian J Co-I Johns Hopkins University
Vines, Sarah K Co-I Johns Hopkins University
Knipp, Delores J Co-I University Of Colorado, Boulder
Lu, Gang Co-I University Corporation For Atmospheric Research (UCAR)

Summary:

SCIENCE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
Knowing the ionospheric plasma condition is important for space weather applications such as predicting the occurrence of plasma depletions and associated irregularities affecting communication and navigation systems. The ionospheric plasma distribution strongly depend on the neutral winds, electric fields and thermospheric composition changes driven by magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere coupling, by upward propagating planetary waves and tides, and is also modulated by Earths magnetic field. Interhemispheric asymmetries in the plasma distribution exist which cannot be explained by the seasonal variation of solar radiation. Similarly, hemispheric asymmetries are evident in many observed quantities of the magnetosphere and ionosphere even after taking account of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientations and seasonal effects. Furthermore, the lower atmosphere has inherent interhemispheric differences due to the non-uniform excitation and propagation condition of waves and tides, which impact the ionosphere and thermosphere from below. So far, what causes the interhemispheric asymmetries in the ionosphere remains largely elusive. Disentangling the important drivers and mechanisms leading to interhemispheric asymmetric plasma distribution is the focus of the proposed investigation.
The proposed investigation will advance our understanding of the response and interaction of the ionosphere to interhemispheric asymmetries in the MI coupling and in the lower atmospheric tidal and planetary wave forcing. It focuses on three science questions that are central to Focused Science Topic #4 Causes and consequences of hemispherical asymmetries in the Magnetosphere-Ionosphere-Thermosphere System:
(1) How can the interhemispheric asymmetries in the field-aligned currents and Joule heating be characterized during quiescent and disturbed conditions?
(2) What are the important processes through which the ionosphere responds to and interacts with the asymmetric magnetospheric forcing?
(3) How large is the contribution from the asymmetric lower atmospheric dynamics to the overall ionospheric asymmetry and what are the important pathways?

METHODOLOGY
This investigation will combine data analysis with the state-of-the-art Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model-eXtended (WACCM-X). WACCM-X with specified dynamics by reanalysis data will be employed to simulate the coupling between the lower atmosphere and the thermosphere-ionosphere system. Numerical experiments will be conducted to delineate the effects from the lower atmosphere. The interhemispheric asymmetries in field-aligned currents (FAC) will be characterized by analyzing the AMPERE magnetometer data. To describe the interhemispheric asymmetries in the Joule heating we will use the Assimilative Mapping of Ionospheric Electrodynamics (AMIE) procedure and the AMPERE FAC forcing in WACCM-X with different auroral conductance descriptions, e.g., DMSP/SSUSI observations, and empirical aurora models. The interhemispheric asymmetry in the ionosphere will be characterized by analyzing GPS-TEC, COSMIC and evening GOLD electron density, and once available COSMIC-2 and ICON data. WACCM-X simulations will be conducted to investigate the ionospheric response and interaction of the lower atmosphere and the MI coupling. The simulated interhemispheric asymmetries in the ionosphere via dynamics, composition and electrodynamic changes will be evaluated by model-data intercomparison of e.g., O/N2 from TIMED/GUVI, GOLD and the upcoming ICON, ion drifts from DMSP, CNOF/S, and the upcoming COSMIC-2 and ICON.

PROPOSED CONTRIBUTION TO THE FOCUSED SCIENCE TEAM
This investigation supports the LWS program goal of understanding which drivers generate the observed asymmetries and improve physics-based understanding of time-evolving structural changes in ionospheric electron density between hemispheres. We will share the AMIE, WACCM-X and data analysis results.

Publications:

Performance Year	Reference	Investigation Type	Actions
2	Maute, A., G. Lu, D.J. Knipp, B.J. Anderson, S. K. Vines (20... Kilcommons, L. M., D.J. Knipp, M. Hairston, & W.R. Coley... Kaeppler, S.R., De. J. Knipp, O. P. Verkhoglyadova, L. M. Ki...	Other Investigations Other Investigations Other Investigations

Presentations:

Performance Year	Reference	Actions
2	Maute A., Y. Deng, Q. Zhu, Grand Challenge tutorial: Interhe...
2	Knipp, D.J. & L.M. Kilcommons, M. Hairston & R. Cole...
2	Lu, G., Interhemispheric Asymmetries in the IT System: A mul...
2	Maute, A., G. Lu., D. Knipp, B. Anderson, S. Vines, Effects ...
2	Maute, A., Ionospheric electrodynamics across regions & ...
2	Maute, A., Aspects of ionospheric electrodynamics in modelin...
2	Blinstrubas, G., "Automated System for High Rate GNSS D... Lamarche, L., “Spectra of Plasma Irregularities around Pol... Lamarche, L., “ISR theory and practice” Guest lecture in... Westerlund, C., Camera and inversion models for auroral scie... Vaggu, P., “Modeling the Effects of Density Structures pro... Zettergren, M., “Stability and structuring of mid-latitude... Gang Li (CoI), et al.: Electron Acceleration at a Shock With... "The Importance of Turbulence and Reconnection in the F... Lynch, B. J., Heliospheric Modeling of Large-scale Interplan... Lynch, B. J., Recent Progress in Numerical Modeling of Erupt... Lynch, B. J., Heliospheric Modeling of Large-scale Interplan... Lynch, B. J., Recent Progress in Numerical Modeling of Erupt... Jull A.J.T., Panyushkina I., Molnár M., Tamas Varga T., Liv... Miyake F., Hakozaki M., Kimura K., Tokanai F., Nakamura, K.,... Panyushkina I., Malyutina T., Jull AJT., Molnar M., Cherkins... Jull, A. J. T., Panyushkina I., Molnar M., Varga T., Livina ... Zhang, S-R, TIDs Associated With the Tonga Eruption: Some Un... AGU 2021: Ground magnetic field perturbation forecasting bas... COSPAR 2021: Modeling and forecasting ground geomagnetic per... Kim, H., Noh, S., Kuzichev, I., Ozturk, D., Xu, Z., Weygand,... Smith, A., Ozturk, D. S., Delamere, P., Lu, G., Kim, H. (202... (INVITED)Maruyama, N., et al (Dec, 2021), “ What can the c... Aikio, A., N. Ellahouny, G. P. Geethakumari, L. Cai, H. Vanh... Breneman, A. W., Using multipoint observations to quantify t... Adhikari, L., Zank, G. P., Zhao, L.-L., Telloni, D., Solar W... Adhikari, L., Zank, G. P., Wang, B., Zhao, L.-L., Telloni, D... Adhikari, L., Zank, G. P., Zhao, L.-L., Wang, B., Tang, B., ... Chen, Y., Small-scale Magnetic Flux Ropes via In Situ Spacec... Chen, Y., PyGS: Analysis tools for small-scale magnetic flux... le Roux, A Tempered Fractional Focused and Parker Transport ... Zhao, L.-L., Effects of Finite Frequency on Turbulence Spect... Xiaocan Li, “Exploring Particle Acceleration and Transport... Xiaocan Li, “Turbulence Properties in 3D Magnetic Reconnec... Xiaocan Li, “Modeling Particle Acceleration and Transport ... Xiaocan Li et al., “Modeling Electron Acceleration and Tra... J. T. Dahlin et al., “Decoding Three-Dimensional Reconnect... Mason, G. M., I. Roth, N. V. Nitta, R. Bučík, D. Lario, G.... GEM 2023: Global Geomagnetic Perturbation Forecasting Using ... LMAG 2023: Using Deep Learning for a Multiscale 'Sun-to...
2	Hong Y., Y. Deng, Q. Zhu, A. Maute, M. R Hairston, C. Sheng,...
2	Zhu, Q., G. Lu, A. Maute, Y. Deng, B. Anderson, Impact of hi...

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