Height-Resolved Electrodynamics

(submitted by Jeff Thayer, August 28, 1998)

1) The science justification is to study the height-resolved behavior in the Joule
heating rate through the complex electrodynamic processes at play in
the high-latitude E region between the neutral wind, electric field,
current, and conductivity.

2) The required measurements are

Rocket:
    ion and neutral composition
    neutral winds
    electric fields ac&dc
    currents
    Poynting vector ac&dc

Ground-based:
    Sondrestrom IS radar
        mesoscale electric fields (2-3 minute resolution)
        height-resolved measurements of: (at 3 kilometer resolution
within 2-3 minutes)
                            currents
                            conductivities
                            ion and electron temperatures
                            neutral winds
                            Joule heating rate estimates
                            electromagnetic energy flux measurements
                            momentum transfer rates
    All-sky Images
        5577
        4238
        6300
    Magnetometer
         height-integrated currents
         height-integrated Joule heating rates

Satellite:
    TIMED
        large-scale neutral winds (tidal and planetary wave behavior)
        largescale compositional changes
        large-scale thermal structure
        large-scale conductance
    DMSP
        electric field measurements
        perturbation magnetic fields - field aligned currents
        height-integrated Joule heating rates

This suite of measurements will certainly provide adequate coverage to
address the question of how electromagnetic energy is dissipated with
altitude through the E region.

 
3) Time period: no seasonal dependence, some local time dependence due to
ground-based instrument support

4) Conditions required are: moderate to strong geomagnetic activity