ICON: Where earth's weather meets space weather

Rider, Kodi; Immel, Thomas; Taylor, Ellen; Craig, William W.

doi:10.1109/aero.2015.7119120

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Walterscheid and Crowley [] demonstrated the importance of high‐latitude, convective ion drag in producing large‐scale neutral gyres whose enhanced radius of curvature produces significant centrifugal forces and cells of thermal and density structure. These studies, along with our results, are aptly poised for the plasma and neutral measurements that will come from the upcoming Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission [ Rider et al , ] that is slated to launch in 2017, as well as the Global‐scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission [ Eastes et al , ], which will also launch that year and become operational in 2018. The main science objective of ICON and GOLD is to assess the impacts of energy and momentum drivers on our space environment.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

New insights into the complex interplay between drag forces and its thermospheric consequences

et al. 2016

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Drag forces, ion and viscous, are evaluated as modifiers of global wind and temperature structure in the upper thermosphere, shedding new light on their relative roles in neutral dynamics and energetics. Exploiting the coupling of an ionosphere‐thermosphere model, it is discovered that ion and viscous drag forces lead to sustained divergent winds, adjustments in mass, modification of pressure gradients, and a redistribution of the radiatively forced thermal energy. The interplay between the relative magnitudes of the ion and viscous drag forces and its effect on the ionosphere‐thermosphere system has not yet been addressed and results in diverse behavior in the neutral wind and temperature structures of the upper atmosphere, dependent upon the type of drag acting on the gas. It is found that viscous drag is more efficient in cooling the dayside thermosphere and heating the nightside than the ion drag force in solar maximum and under quiet geomagnetic activity, resulting in a 150 K day‐night temperature difference. The ion drag force inhibits this effective day‐to‐night energy circulation, culminating in a dynamically induced difference of about 400 K in the day‐night temperature difference. It is demonstrated that the resultant wind and thermal structure greatly depends on the type of drag force environment, and a mechanism is introduced whereby ion and viscous drag forces can alter the energy budget of the upper thermosphere system. For example, in solar minimum, viscous drag is significant relative to other forces and more effectively cools the dayside and warms the nightside, thereby reducing the day‐night temperature gradient.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 85%

New insights into the complex interplay between drag forces and its thermospheric consequences

et al. 2016

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“…ICON carries 4 instruments to a low-inclination orbit to address the open scientific questions relating to the strong, unexplained variability in our space plasma environment and determine the drivers that cause our space environment to vary in concert with Earth's weather. It surmounted many challenges in its development (Rider et al 2015) and exercised no scientific descopes at all. With this, it is ready to advance our scientific understanding of Earth's upper atmosphere and ionosphere.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Ionospheric Connection Explorer Mission: Mission Goals and Design

et al. 2017

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The Ionospheric Connection Explorer, or ICON, is a new NASA Explorer mission that will explore the boundary between Earth and space to understand the physical connection between our world and our space environment. This connection is made in the ionosphere, which has long been known to exhibit variability associated with the sun and solar wind. However, it has been recognized in the 21st century that equally significant changes in ionospheric conditions are apparently associated with energy and momentum The Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) mission Edited by Doug Rowland and Thomas J. Immel B T.J. Immel

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“…In recent years, measurements of this emission made by space‐borne instruments such as the Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI) on board the Thermosphere, Ionosphere, Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite have provided a powerful tool for investigating the ionospheric state on a global scale [ Christensen et al , ; Meier et al , ]. NASA's upcoming mission, the Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON), will carry a far ultraviolet imager along with three other instruments, to explore the space environment near Earth to unravel the sources of its remarkable variability [ Rider et al , ]. In addition, NASA's Global‐scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission will also include an ultraviolet imaging spectrograph on a geostationary satellite to investigate the global‐scale response of the thermosphere and ionosphere to forcing in the integrated Sun‐Earth system.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying the inversion accuracy of simplified physical models for the nighttime OI 135.6 nm emission

2016

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A comprehensive statistical analysis is performed to investigate the effects of plasma and neutral density variability on the OI 135.6 nm emission in the nighttime ionosphere. Typical and extreme cases obtained from climatological models are incorporated into a radiative transfer model recently developed by Qin et al. (2015) to systematically quantify the production and loss of the nighttime 135.6 nm emission, as well as to understand their dependence on the ionospheric and thermospheric conditions. It is shown that mutual neutralization can contribute ∼8%–40% of the 135.6 nm emission. Radiative transfer effects due to scattering and absorption reduce the peak brightness measured from a satellite platform in the limb direction by ∼0.3% to 22%. The reduction is more significant for a larger observing zenith angle, typically by ∼45% for lines of sight that go through altitudes below ∼150 km. Furthermore, inversion results show that ignoring radiative transfer effects lead to a maximum ∼12% underestimation of the NmF2, while ignoring mutual neutralization leads to a maximum ∼30% overestimation of the NmF2. In the presence of measurement noise, the estimation accuracy decreases with a decreasing signal‐to‐noise ratio, and the errors introduced by simplified physical models lead to a significant bias in the inversion results.

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ICON: Where earth's weather meets space weather

Cited by 6 publications

References 4 publications

New insights into the complex interplay between drag forces and its thermospheric consequences

New insights into the complex interplay between drag forces and its thermospheric consequences

The Ionospheric Connection Explorer Mission: Mission Goals and Design

Quantifying the inversion accuracy of simplified physical models for the nighttime OI 135.6 nm emission

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