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Multi-Scale Ionospheric Poynting Fluxes Using Ground and Space-Based Observations
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  • Daniel D Billett,
  • Kathryn A McWilliams,
  • Pavlo V. Ponomarenko,
  • Carley Jade Martin,
  • David J. Knudsen,
  • Sarah Kimberly Vines
Daniel D Billett
University of Saskatchewan

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Kathryn A McWilliams
University of Saskatchewan
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Pavlo V. Ponomarenko
University of Saskatchewan
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Carley Jade Martin
University of Saskatchewan
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David J. Knudsen
University of Calgary
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Sarah Kimberly Vines
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
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Abstract

We present three events where high-resolution electric and magnetic field measurements from the Swarm satellite constellation coincided with excellent F-region ionospheric coverage from SuperDARN. Large-scale ionospheric convection patterns from SuperDARN, together with field-aligned-current patterns from AMPERE, provide information on quasi-static ionospheric dynamics traversed by Swarm. Because the Swarm observations and orbital path coincided with favorable SuperDARN/AMPERE observing conditions, it was possible to filter the Swarm electric field observations into a quasi-static component that agreed with the SuperDARN electric field. We contend that the residual electric field from Swarm is thus indicative of small- and mesoscale dynamics not captured by the convection and FAC patterns. We compare calculations of the Poynting flux between the different instruments and show that dynamics on small- to mesoscales can be highly variable within structures like field-aligned currents. In the events shown, small- and medium-scale Poynting fluxes occasionally dominate over that from large-scale processes.
18 Mar 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
26 Mar 2023Published in ESS Open Archive