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Intermediate‐scale plasma irregularities in the polar ionosphere inferred from GPS radio occultation
Author(s) -
Shume E. B.,
Komjathy A.,
Langley R. B.,
Verkhoglyadova O.,
Butala M. D.,
Mannucci A. J.
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl062558
Subject(s) - ionosphere , interplanetary scintillation , radio occultation , scintillation , polar , occultation , global positioning system , remote sensing , physics , geology , astronomy , solar wind , plasma , detector , optics , coronal mass ejection , telecommunications , quantum mechanics , computer science
We report intermediate‐scale plasma irregularities in the polar ionosphere inferred from high‐resolution radio occultation (RO) measurements using GPS (Global Positioning System) to CASSIOPE (CAScade Smallsat and IOnospheric Polar Explorer) satellite radio links. The high inclination of CASSIOPE and the high rate of signal reception by the GPS Attitude, Positioning, and Profiling RO receiver on CASSIOPE enable a high‐resolution investigation of the dynamics of the polar ionosphere with unprecedented detail. Intermediate‐scale, scintillation‐producing irregularities, which correspond to 1 to 40 km scales, were inferred by applying multiscale spectral analysis on the RO phase measurements. Using our multiscale spectral analysis approach and satellite data (Polar Operational Environmental Satellites and Defense Meteorological Satellite Program), we discovered that the irregularity scales and phase scintillations have distinct features in the auroral oval and polar cap. We found that large length scales and more intense phase scintillations are prevalent in the auroral oval compared to the polar cap implying that the irregularity scales and phase scintillation characteristics are a function of the solar wind and magnetospheric forcings.