Open AccessNew method for tracking the movement of ionospheric plasma
Author(s) -
Benton C. J.,
Mitchell C. N.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2012ja017836
Subject(s) - plasma , total electron content , ionosphere , tec , physics , electron density , computational physics , geophysics , quantum mechanics
A method to track the flow of plasma in the Earth's ionosphere is presented. This takes maps of total electron content (TEC) at various times, and by comparing them derives a map of bulk velocities. The method is a modification of the Horn‐Schunck scheme used in computer vision, whereby the aperture problem (caused by the scalar input field not containing enough information to uniquely constrain the vector output field) is overcome by making pragmatic assumptions about the divergence and rotation of the flow. The continuity equation linking plasma velocity and density is given source terms constrained by models of plasma generation and recombination. This can be used to mitigate solar terminator effects, where the close proximity of daytime plasma generation and nighttime recombination causes the impression of plasma flow. The method successfully reconstructs the behavior of test data. It also gives plausible results with real electron density maps from the 2003 Halloween Storms.