Low Altitude Initiation of Ionospheric Upflow and Outflow

Abstract:

Significant amounts of ionospheric plasma can be transported to high altitudes (above 1000 km) in response to a variety of plasma heating and uplifting processes. Soft electron precipitation heats ambient, F-region ionospheric electrons creating electron pressure increases and upflows. Strong DC electric fields frictionally heat the ion population also resulting in ion upflows. Lastly, field-aligned thermospheric winds can contribute to ion motion at lower altitudes, while geomagnetically perpendicular winds may affect frictional heating. Once ions have been lifted to high altitudes, transverse ion acceleration by broadband ELF waves can give the upflowing ions sufficient energy to escape into the magnetosphere (ionospheric outflow). This study examines the thermospheric wind regulation of ionospheric upflow and outflow with a focus on how lower ionosphere dynamics feed source populations for transverse energization and determine the types, and amounts, of outflowing ions. The model used here for this study is a 2D ionospheric model based on a modified 16-moment transport description. It solves conservation of mass, momentum, and parallel and perpendicular energy for all relevant ionospheric species. This model encapsulates ionospheric upflow and outflow processes through the inclusion of DC electric fields, and empirical descriptions of heating by soft electron precipitation and BBELF waves. This model is used to conduct a parametric study of neutral wind effects on upflow and outflow and highlights how low-altitude processes affect ion outflow through the regulation of source plasma available to higher altitudes. This model is also used to construct a case study of ion outflows at the nightside polar cap boundary using data from the VISIONS sounding rocket campaign.