High Resolution Ionosphere/Thermosphere Modeling Studies of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles

Joseph Huba, Hanli Liu, Erich Becker

Presentation information

[E] Oral

P (Space and Planetary Sciences ) » P-EM Solar-Terrestrial Sciences, Space Electromagnetism & Space Environment

[P-EM11] Coupling Processes in the Atmosphere-Ionosphere System

Thu. Jun 3, 2021 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM Ch.05 (Zoom Room 05)

convener:Huixin Liu(Earth and Planetary Science Division, Kyushu University SERC, Kyushu University), Loren Chang(Institute of Space Science, National Central University), Yuichi Otsuka(Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya University), Yue Deng(University of Texas at Arlington), Chairperson:Huixin Liu(Earth and Planetary Science Division, Kyushu University SERC, Kyushu University), Masaru Kogure(National Institute of Polar Research)

9:30 AM - 9:45 AM

[PEM11-03] High Resolution Ionosphere/Thermosphere Modeling Studies of Equatorial Plasma Bubbles

★Invited Papers

*Joseph Huba¹, Hanli Liu, Erich Becker (1.Syntek Technologies, Inc)

Keywords:equatorial bubbles, ionosphere/thermosphere modeling

We report results from a high resolution global simulation study of the ionosphere/thermosphere system that self-consistently generates large-scale equatorial spread F (ESF) plasma bubbles. The coupled model comprises the ionospheric code SAMI3 and the atmosphere/thermosphere codes WACCM-X and HIAMCM. An important feature of the study is that a high resolution grid is used globally with scale sizes 50 km. Several cases are studied for different seasons and solar activity. We show one case that is consistent with recent GOLD observations [Huba and Liu, 2020]. In addition to seasonal and solar activity variations in the onset of ESF, we also find a strong longitudinal and day-to-day variation. Importantly, the bubbles are initiated self-consistently by atmospheric gravity waves in the WACCM-X and HIAMCM models as opposed to artificial, numerical ionosphere perturbations.

Huba, J.D. and H.-L. Liu, Global modeling of equatorial spread F with SAMI3/WACCM-X, Geophys. Res. Lett., 47, e2020GL088258. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL088258 2020.