Measurements of Thermospheric Winds and Temperatures with a Fabry-Perot Interferometer Network: Results from NATION, South America, and Alaska

Abstract:

Results in recent years have demonstrated that studies of thermospheric dynamics over small or large spatial scales are enhanced when measurements of the wind and temperature fields are obtained as a part of a network of Fabry-Perot interferometers (FPI). In contrast to the all-sky FPI design used in the polar region by Conde and colleagues, these FPIs are narrow-field instruments that utilize a SkyScanner to observe in a series of directions over a region 500-800 km in diameter. The sensitivity of these instruments has increased dramatically over older FPIs, allowing new and interesting phenomena to be investigated. When two or more FPIs are utilized, different observing strategies may then offer advantages regarding the ability to study the thermospheric-ionosphere system response over small and large scale sizes that can not be achieved by a single FPI observatory. Examples of results obtained by the North American Thermospheric and Ionospheric Observing Network (NATION), the five FPIs operating in South America, and the three FPIs observing in Alaska will illustrate the system science advantages provided by such networks.