Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
1777707 | Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics | 2008 | 7 Pages |
In the dayside polar region—loosely referred to as the cleft region—particle precipitation and Joule heating cause significant perturbations of the upper atmosphere. Here Dynamics Explorer-2 satellite data are used to present a synopsis of these disturbance effects. Documented are an increase in electron temperature and a decrease in electron density; increases in ion drift speed and ion temperature; an increase in the upward-directed ion velocity; increases in zonal wind speed and neutral gas temperature; and changes in the neutral gas composition and mass density. It is suggested that the increase in electron temperature is partly controlled by the decrease in electron density; that the ion upflow velocity mainly depends on the electron temperature, less frequently on the ion temperature; and that the observed decrease in thermospheric mass density is due to a decrease in the atomic oxygen density, which in turn is caused by diverging wind flows.