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Validation of ICON‐MIGHTI Thermospheric Wind Observations: 1. Nighttime Red‐Line Ground‐Based Fabry‐Perot Interferometers
Author(s) -
Makela Jonathan J.,
Baughman Matthew,
Navarro Luis A.,
Harding Brian J.,
Englert Christoph. R.,
Harlander John M.,
Marr Kenneth D.,
Benkhaldoun Zouhair,
Kaab Mohamed,
Immel Thomas J.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2020ja028726
Subject(s) - airglow , thermosphere , astronomical interferometer , twilight , physics , fabry–pérot interferometer , ionosphere , remote sensing , interferometry , michelson interferometer , magnitude (astronomy) , line (geometry) , space weather , meteorology , geodesy , atmospheric sciences , environmental science , optics , astronomy , geology , laser , mathematics , geometry
Observations of the nighttime thermospheric wind from two ground‐based Fabry‐Perot Interferometers are compared to the level 2.1 and 2.2 data products from the Michelson Interferometer Global High‐resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) onboard National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Ionospheric Connection Explorer to assess and validate the methodology used to generate measurements of neutral thermospheric winds observed by MIGHTI. We find generally good agreement between observations approximately coincident in space and time with mean differences less than 11 m/s in magnitude and standard deviations of about 20–35 m/s. These results indicate that the independent calculations of the zero‐wind reference used by the different instruments do not contain strong systematic or physical biases, even though the observations were acquired during solar minimum conditions when the measured airglow intensity is weak. We argue that the slight differences in the estimated wind quantities between the two instrument types can be attributed to gradients in the airglow and thermospheric wind fields and the differing viewing geometries used by the instruments.