Publications by authors named "R A Heelis"

Article Synopsis
  • The NASA Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) completed its two-year mission, successfully achieving and exceeding its scientific goals.
  • Launched in October 2019, ICON measures plasma density in Earth's space environment, providing valuable insights into the ionosphere-thermosphere system.
  • During its mission, ICON identified significant effects in the ionosphere influenced by atmospheric conditions and observed shifts in these influences as solar activity changed over time.
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We present simultaneous, independent measurements of the atmospheric semidiurnal lunar tide in neutral winds and plasma velocities from NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer, and in atomic oxygen 135.6 nm airglow measured by the Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk. Westward tidal winds near 115 km at the magnetic equator occur during part of the upward phase of the in-situ plasma drift.

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Meso-scale plasma convection and particle precipitation could be significant momentum and energy sources for the ionosphere-thermosphere (I-T) system. Following our previous work on the I-T response to a typical midnight flow burst, flow bursts with different characteristics (lifetime, size, and speed) have been examined systematically with Global Ionosphere-Thermosphere Model (GITM) simulations in this study. Differences between simulations with and without additional flow bursts are used to illustrate the impact of flow bursts on the I-T system.

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A quasi-2-day wave (Q2DW) event during January-February, 2020, is investigated in terms of its propagation from 96 to 250 km as a function of latitude (10°S to 30°N), its nonlinear interactions with migrating tides to produce 16 and 9.6-h secondary waves (SWs), and the plasma drift and density perturbations that it produces in the topside F-region (590-607 km) between magnetic latitudes 18°S and 18°N. This is accomplished through analysis of coincident Ionospheric Connections Explorer (ICON) measurements of neutral winds, plasma drifts and ion densities, and wind measurements from four low-latitude (±15°) specular meteor radars (SMRs).

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Article Synopsis
  • * These variations are linked to "thermospheric weather," where upper-atmosphere winds react to waves from lower regions, affecting ionospheric density through wind-driven electromotive forces.
  • * New findings from NASA's Ionospheric Connection Explorer provide direct evidence of the wind dynamo effect in space, highlighting a strong connection between plasma motion and thermospheric winds, which is crucial for improving predictions of the plasma environment.
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