Thesis (M.Sc. (Physics & Electronics)) - Rhodes University, 2009. / A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.

Spread F is a phenomenon of the ionosphere in which the pulses returned from the ionosphere are of a much greater duration than the transmitted ones. The occurrence of spread F can be predicted using the technique of Neural Networks (NNs). This thesis presents the development and evaluation of NN based models (two single station models and a regional model) for predicting the occurrence of spread F over selected stations within the Brazilian sector. The input space for the NNs included the day number (seasonal variation), hour (diurnal variation), sunspot number (measure of the solar activity), magnetic index (measure of the magnetic activity) and magnetic position (latitude, magnetic declination and inclination). Twelve years of spread F data measured during 1978 to 1989 inclusively at the equatorial site Fortaleza and low latitude site Cachoeira Paulista are used in the development of an input space and NN architecture for the NN models. Spread F data that is believed to be related to plasma bubble developments (range spread F) were used in the development of the models while those associated with narrow spectrum irregularities that occur near the F layer (frequency spread F) were excluded. The results of the models show the dependency of the probability of spread F as a function of local time, season and latitude. The models also illustrate some characteristics of spread F such as the onset and peak occurrence of spread F as a function of distance from the equator. Results from these models are presented in this thesis and compared to measured data and to modelled data obtained with an empirical model developed for the same purpose.

In near-Earth space, highly spatio-temporally variant magnetic fields result from solar-terrestrial magnetic interaction. These near-Earth external fields currently represent the largest source of error in efforts to model the magnetic field produced in the Earth’s interior. Starting in 1999, the Decade of Geopotential Field Research (Friis-Christensen et al., 2009) has greatly increased the amount of available low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite magnetic data. These data have driven many advances in field modelling, yet have highlighted that LEO measurements are particularly susceptible to contamination from external fields. This thesis presents a series of studies attempting to describe the external fields in more detail, in order that they can be more effectively separated from the internal fields in magnetic modelling efforts. A range of analysis methods, different for each study, are applied to satellite and ground-based observatory data. Mandea and Olsen’s (2006) method of estimating the secular variation (SV) of the internal field from satellite data via ‘Virtual Observatories’ (VOs) is applied to synthetic data from the upcoming Swarm constellation satellite mission of the European Space Agency. Beggan (2009) found VOs constructed from CHAMP satellite data to be contaminated with external field signals which appeared to have a significant local time (LT) dependence. I find that utilising the increased coverage of LT sectors offered by the Swarm constellation geometry does not significantly decrease the contamination. Following this surprising result I tested a wide range of methods aimed at reducing the VO contamination from each parameterised external field source region. In anticipation of future studies using real data, I used the results of the tests to provide a more complete description of the external field variations affecting analyses of geographically-fixed magnetic phenomena when using satellite data and spherical harmonic analysis (SHA). Ionospheric electric currents flowing at LEO altitudes are known to violate the assumption of measurements taken in a source-free space, required in SHA-based models of the magnetic field. In order to better describe the electromagnetic environment at LEO altitudes, I use data from the Ørsted and CHAMP satellites to calculate the current density from Amp`ere’s integral. Vector magnetic data from discrete overflights of the two satellites (at different altitudes) are rotated into the along-track frame to define the integral loop and its ‘surface area’, permitting estimation of the predominantly zonal current density flowing in the region between the two orbital paths. I designed selection criteria to extract geometrically-stable overflights spanning the range of LTs twice in the 6 years of mutually available satellite vector data. From these overflights I resolve current densities in the range 0:1 μA=m2, with the distribution of current largely matching the LT progression of the Appleton anomaly. I applied detailed tests to check for biases intrinsic to the method, and present results free of systematic errors. The results are compared with the predictions of the CTIP (Coupled Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Plasmasphere) model of ionospheric composition and temperature, showing a typically good spatiotemporal agreement. I find persistent current intensifications between geomagnetic latitudes of 30 and 50 in the post-midnight, pre-dawn sector, a region which has been previously considered to be relatively free of currents. External fields induce currents in the Earth’s conducting mantle, the magnetic fields of which add to the field measured at and above the Earth’s surface. The morphology of the long-period inducing field is poorly resolved on timescales of months to years, reducing the accuracy of mantle induction studies (a key part of the Swarm mission). I improve the description of its morphology via the method of Empirical Orthogonal Functions (EOFs), which I apply to over a decade of ground-based observatory data. EOFs provide a decomposition of the spatiotemporal structures contained in the magnetic field data, with partitions arising from the data themselves, overcoming the relatively simplistic assumptions made about the inducing field morphology in LT. The results of vector data EOF analyses are presented, but I rely primarily on scalar analyses which are more fitting for this study. I overcome the limitations of the irregular observatory distribution with a novel spatial weighting matrix, combining the output from multiple EOF analyses to greatly improve the data coverage in LT. I find that the seasonal variation of the inducing field is more important than the variation of the symmetric ring current on annual periods, and that dawn-dusk asymmetry should be accounted for to increase the accuracy of mantle conductivity estimates based on data covering the decadal timescales of the solar cycle.

We used ion drift observations from the DE-2 satellite to study for the first time the longitudinal variations of middle and low latitude F-region zonal plasma drifts during quiet and disturbed conditions. The daytime quiet-time drifts do not change much with longitude. In the dusk-premidnight period, the equinoctial middle latitude westward drifts are smallest in the European sector, and the low latitude eastward drifts are largest in the American-Pacific sector. The longitudinal variations of the late night-early morning drifts during June and December solstice are anti-correlated. During geomagnetically active time s, there are large westward perturbation drifts in the late afternoon-early night sector at upper middle latitudes and in the midnight sector at low latitudes. The largest westward disturbed drifts during equinox occur in the European sector and the smallest in the Pacific region. These results suggest that during equinox, Subauroral Polarization Streams (SAPS) events occur most often at European longitudes. The low latitude perturbation drifts do not show significant longitudinal dependence. We have used five years of measurements on board the ROCSA T-1 satellite to develop a detailed local-time, season, and longitude-dependent quiet-time global empirical model for equatorial F-region vertical plasma drifts. We show that the longitudinal dependence of the daytime and nighttime vertical drifts is much stronger than reported earlier, especially during December and June solstice. The late night downward drift velocities are larger in the eastern than in the western hemisphere at all seasons, the morning and afternoon December solstice drifts have significantly different longitudinal dependence, and the daytime upward drifts have strong wavenumber-four signatures during equinox and June solstice. The largest evening upward drifts occur during equinox and December solstice near the American sector. The longitudinal variations of the evening prereversal velocity peaks during December and June solstice are anti-correlated, which further indicates the importance of conductivity effects on the electrodynamics of the equatorial ionosphere. We have shown that disturbance dynamo largely does not affect daytime drifts. The upward perturbations during the nighttime are largely season independent, but near the prereversal enhancement, the downward perturbation drifts are largest during equinox and smallest during December.

The most compelling evidence of the complex interaction between the geomagnetic field of the Earth and the magnetic field of the Sun is found in the polar ionosphere. Large scale F-region plasma density perturbations result from the coupling between the two fields. Plasma density enhancements known as ionization patches, and depletions can have lifetimes of several hours in the F region and are almost always present everywhere throughout the nighttime polar ionosphere. The perturbations can seed ionospheric irregularities that severely hamper communication and navigational networks, even during times of subdued geomagnetic activity. Up until recently, it has been difficult to study the perturbations due to the remoteness of their location. In the past decade an array of optical and radio instruments have been deployed to the Canadian sector of the Arctic, enabling a more thorough sampling of the polar ionosphere and the large scale perturbations therein. In this work, common volume measurements from the Rankin Inlet Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), Resolute Bay Incoherent Scatter Radar - North (RISR-N) and Optical Mesosphere and Thermosphere Imagers (OMTI) system at Resolute Bay are employed to investigate the generation mechanisms, transport properties, and optical and radio signatures of the large scale perturbations. A model connecting the optical signatures of patches to their velocity profile through the ionosphere is introduced and applied to OMTI data. In addition, an algorithm is developed to detect the presence of patches using RISR-N. Using the algorithm, a survey of patches sampled over several days is conducted, providing a comprehensive account of the variable polar ionosphere in terms of its plasma state parameters. Furthermore, the algorithm is used to diagnose patches as a primary source of coherent backscatter for the Rankin Inlet SuperDARN radar. Lastly, the generation of a deep plasma density depletion is analyzed using the three aforementioned instruments. Using a model, it is shown that such perturbations can be forged by intense frictional heating events in the polar ionosphere on a time scale of 15 minutes, and can subsequently be transported through the region.

The purpose of this study is two-fold. The first is to determine the dependence of the molecular ion profiles on the various ionospheric and atmospheric parameters that affect their distributions. The second is to demonstrate the correlation of specific ionospheric parameters with 6300 Å nightglow intensity during periods of magnetically quiet and disturbed conditions.

By examining continuous data from the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) in Poker Flat, Alaska, short-lived enhancements in the F-region ion temperature, or "Tᵢ spikes", were discovered in the evening while the radar was on the equatorward edge of the high latitude convection region. These enhancements were several hundred Kelvin above the background temperature, would last less than 15 minutes and were preceded by sharp depletions in plasma density (of roughly one half). Though they were mostly detected in the summer, 25 events throughout a whole year of data were identi ed in which the spike occurred within 1.5 hours of the density drop. By examining the location of PFISR at the time of the enhancements, as well as the conditions under which these spikes occurred, it was concluded that these enhancements were the result of electric elds increasing the frictional heating between ions and neutrals. By then examining geophysical data, it was found that these events were temporal and related to changes in magnetic indices. One possible explanation for the observations is that the electric eld is at its strongest near the plasmapause during substorms. Another more likely possibility is that during substorms the region of sunward ion convection expands into a region in the evening side where the neutral gas moves in a direction opposite to the ions, thereby enhancing the frictional heating rate.

This thesis has two major objectives. The first objective is to investigate the seasonal and diurnal variations in occurrence of HF coherent echoes. We assess F-region echo occurrence rates for the PolarDARN HF radars at Inuvik (INV) and Rankin Inlet (RKN) and the auroral zone SuperDARN radars at Saskatoon (SAS) and Prince George (PGR) for the period of 2007-2010. We show that the INV and RKN PolarDARN radars show comparable rates of echo occurrence all the time and they detect 1.5-2.5 times more echoes through ½-hop propagation mode (MLATs=80°-85°) than the SAS and PGR SuperDARN radars through 1½-hope propagation mode (MLATs=75°-80°). For all four radars, the winter occurrence rates are about ~2 times higher than the summer rates. For observations in the dusk, midnight and dawn sectors, equinoctial maxima are evident. The pattern of echo occurrence in terms of MLT/season is about the same for all radars with clear maxima near noon during winters and summers and enhanced (as compared to other time of the day) occurrence rates during equinoctial dusk and dawn hours. Additionally, to investigate the effect of solar cycle on occurrence of F-region echoes, we consider the near noon and near midnight echo occurrence rates for the Saskatoon radar over the period of 1994-2010. We show that there is a strong, by a factor of ~10, increase in SAS night-side echo occurrence towards solar maximum. The effect does not exist for the dayside echoes; moreover, a decrease in number of echoes, by a factor of ~2, was discovered for the declining phase of the solar cycle. The second objective is to evaluate the electron density and the electric field as factors controlling the occurrence of F-region echoes. We use observations of these two ionospheric parameters measured by CADI ionosonde and RKN observations of echo occurrence rates over Resolute Bay (MLAT=83°). We show that there is a correlation in changes of echo occurrence and electron density changes for 3 years of radar-ionosonde joint operation (2008-2010). The comparison of radar-ionosonde data shows that the enhanced echo occurrence at near noon hours during summer months correlate with the enhanced electric field during these periods.