[P-EM09] Vertical coupling in the atmosphere and Ionosphere

[PEM09-15] Coupling of lower thermosphere planetary wave energy into the ionosphere

*Patrick J Espy^1,2, Nora Stray^1,2,3, Robert Hibbins^1,2 (1.Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway, 2.Birkeland Centre for Space Science, Bergen, Norway, 3.Teknova AS, Tordenskjolds Gate 9, 4612 Kristiansand, Norway)

Keywords:dynamics, turbopause, ionosphere

Neutral atmosphere winds derived from meteor trail drifts observed by a longitudinal chain of Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars have characterized planetary waves with wavenumber 1 and 2 in the lower thermosphere near 95 km. The simultaneous wind observations at stations between 50^o and 66^o N removes the temporal-spatial aliasing associated with satellite observations and shows the continuous evolution of the planetary waves near the turbopause. A similar technique has been applied to a longitudinal chain of ionosondes in the same latitude band, and the same wavenumber components were observed in f_oF2. An analysis of the two signals shows them to be highly correlated, with the ionospheric waves lagging behind those in the lower thermosphere. We will describe the technique to extract the waves and compare it with other observations. We will also show the relationship of the ionospheric waves with magnetic and solar activity, and describe a process, commensurate with our measurements, by which planetary wave signals near the turbopause can be transmitted into the ionospheric electron density.