MENTAT: A New Magnetic Meridional Neutral Wind Model for Earth’s Thermosphere

We present a new model of thermosphere winds in the F region ionosphere obtained from variations in the altitude of the peak electron density (h_mF₂). The new Magnetic mEridional NeuTrAl Thermospheric (MENTAT) wind model produces magnetic-meridional neutral winds as a function of year, day of year, solar local time, solar flux, geographic latitude, and geographic longitude. The modeled winds are shown to exhibit the expected seasonal, diurnal, and hourly behavior based on location and geophysical conditions. The winds compare well with Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) wind observations and are shown to provide accurate specifications in regions outside of the h_mF₂database. The magnetic meridional winds are similar to those from the well-known HWM14 model but there are important differences. For example, MENTAT modeled winds are able to drive strong downward vertical plasma drifts around midnight (the ‘midnight collapse’) but winds from HWM14 do not. Also, MENTAT winds exhibit a solar cycle dependence, whereas, HWM14 has no solar activity dependence. For more information, please visit http://www.mentatwinds.net/.