2011 SuperDARN Workshop
ABSTRACTS
Characteristics of spatial variability in high-latitude SuperDARN velocities
E.D.P. Cousins and S.G. Shepherd
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
abstract. Small-scale variability in high-latitude ionospheric plasma drifts can contribute to the total energy deposited through Joule heating but it is typically not accounted for in statistical models of high-latitude convection. In this study, SuperDARN line-of-sight velocity data from both hemispheres are analyzed to determine the statistical characteristics of velocity fluctuations on scales up to ~500 km. It is found that the overall distributions of fluctuations observed during eight months of the years 2000 and 2001 are the same in both hemispheres. Several interplanetary and geophysical parameters such as IMF, AE, and dipole tilt are found to influence the distribution of fluctuations. These parameters are not seen to have the same influence in both hemispheres.