Browsing by Author "Clausen, Lasse B. N."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    A comparison of SuperDARN ACF fitting methods
    Ribeiro, A. J.; Ruohoniemi, J. Michael; Ponomarenko, Pavlo V.; Clausen, Lasse B. N.; Baker, Joseph B. H.; Greenwald, R. A.; Oksavik, Kjellmar; de Larquier, S. (American Geophysical Union, 2013-05-01)
    The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is a worldwide chain of HF radars which monitor plasma dynamics in the ionosphere. Autocorrelation functions are routinely calculated from the radar returns and applied to estimate Doppler velocity, spectral width, and backscatter power. This fitting has traditionally been performed by a routine called FITACF. This routine initiates a fitting by selecting a subset of valid phase measurements and then empirically adjusting for 2 phase ambiguities. The slope of the phase variation with lag time then provides Doppler velocity. Doppler spectral width is found by an independent fitting of the decay of power to an assumed exponential or Gaussian function. In this paper, we use simulated data to assess the performance of FITACF, as well as two other newer fitting techniques, named FITEX2 and LMFIT. The key new feature of FITEX2 is that phase models are compared in a least-squares fitting sense with the actual data phases to determine the best fit, eliminating some ambiguities which are present in FITACF. The key new feature of LMFIT is that the complex autocorrelation function (ACF) itself is fit, and Doppler velocity, spectral width, and backscatter power are solved simultaneously. We discuss some of the issues that negatively impact FITACF and find that of the algorithms tested, LMFIT provides the best overall performance in fitting the SuperDARN ACFs. The techniques and the data simulator are applicable to other radar systems that utilize multipulse sequences to make simultaneous range and velocity determinations under aliasing conditions.
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    Direct observations of the role of convection electric field in the formation of a polar tongue of ionization from storm enhanced density
    Thomas, E. G.; Baker, Joseph B. H.; Ruohoniemi, J. Michael; Clausen, Lasse B. N.; Coster, A. J.; Foster, J. C.; Erickson, P. J. (American Geophysical Union, 2013-03-01)
    We examine the relationship of convection electric fields to the formation of a polar cap tongue of ionization (TOI) from midlatitude plumes of storm enhanced density (SED). Observations from the geomagnetic storm on 26-27 September 2011 are presented for two distinct SED events. During an hour-long period of geomagnetic activity driven by a coronal mass ejection, a channel of high-density F region plasma was transported from the dayside subauroral ionosphere and into the polar cap by enhanced convection electric fields extending to middle latitudes. This TOI feature was associated with enhanced HF backscatter, indicating that it was the seat of active formation of small-scale irregularities. After the solar wind interplanetary magnetic field conditions quieted and the dayside convection electric fields retreated to higher latitudes, an SED plume was observed extending to, but not entering, the dayside cusp region. This prominent feature in the distribution of total electron content (TEC) persisted for several hours and elongated in magnetic local time with the rotation of the Earth. No ionospheric scatter from SuperDARN radars was observed within this SED region. The source mechanism (enhanced electric fields) previously drawing the plasma from midlatitudes and into the polar cap as a TOI was no longer active, resulting in a fossil feature. We thus demonstrate the controlling role exercised by the convection electric field in generating a TOI from midlatitude SED.
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    On the influence of open magnetic flux on substorm intensity: Ground- and space-based observations
    Clausen, Lasse B. N.; Milan, Stephen E.; Baker, Joseph B. H.; Ruohoniemi, J. Michael; Glassmeier, K. H.; Coxon, J. C.; Anderson, B. J. (American Geophysical Union, 2003-06-01)
    Using the location of maximum region 1 current determined by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment as a proxy for the open/closed field line boundary, we monitor the evolution of the amount of open magnetic flux inside the magnetosphere during 772 substorms. We then divide all substorms into three classes, depending on the amount of open flux at expansion phase onset. Studying the temporal variations during the substorms of each class for a number of related geophysical parameters, we find that substorms occurring while the amount of open flux is large are generally more intense. By intense we mean that the auroral electrojet, region 1 current, auroral brightness, tail dipolarization and flow speed, ground magnetic signatures, Pi2 wave power, as well as the intensity and extent of the substorm current wedge (SCW) are all larger than during substorms that occur on a contracted polar cap. The SCW manifests itself as an intensification of the nightside R1 and R2 current system after onset. Our analysis shows that to dispose of large amounts of accumulated open magnetic flux, large substorms are triggered in the terrestrial magnetosphere.
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    A realistic radar data simulator for the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network
    Ribeiro, A. J.; Ponomarenko, Pavlo V.; Ruohoniemi, J. Michael; Baker, Joseph B. H.; Clausen, Lasse B. N.; Greenwald, R. A.; de Larquier, S. (American Geophysical Union, 2013-05-01)
    The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) is a chain of HF radars for monitoring plasma flows in the high and middle latitude E and F regions of the ionosphere. The targets of SuperDARN radars are plasma irregularities which can flow up to several kilometers per second and can be detected out to ranges of several thousand kilometers. We have developed a simulator which is able to model SuperDARN data realistically. The simulation system comprises four separate parts: model scatterers, model collective properties, a model radar, and post-processing. Importantly, the simulator is designed using the collective scatter approach which accurately captures the expected statistical fluctuations of the radar echoes. The output of the program can represent either receiver voltages or autocorrelation functions (ACFs) in standard SuperDARN file formats. The simulator is useful for testing and implementation of SuperDARN data processing software and for investigation of how radar data and performance change when the nature of the irregularities or radar operation varies. The companion paper demonstrates the application of simulated data to evaluate the performance of different ACF fitting algorithms. The data simulator is applicable to other ionospheric radar systems.
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    Supermagnetosonic subsolar magnetosheath jets and their effects: from the solar wind to the ionospheric convection
    Hietala, H.; Partamies, N.; Laitinen, T. V.; Clausen, Lasse B. N.; Facsko, G.; Vaivads, A.; Koskinen, H. E. J.; Dandouras, I.; Reme, H.; Lucek, E. A. (Copernicus Publications, 2012)
    It has recently been proposed that ripples inherent to the bow shock during radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) may produce local high speed flows in the magnetosheath. These jets can have a dynamic pressure much larger than the dynamic pressure of the solar wind. On 17 March 2007, several jets of this type were observed by the Cluster spacecraft. We study in detail these jets and their effects on the magnetopause, the magnetosphere, and the ionospheric convection. We find that (1) the jets could have a scale size of up to a few RE but less than similar to 6 R-E transverse to the XGSE axis; (2) the jets caused significant local magnetopause perturbations due to their high dynamic pressure; (3) during the period when the jets were observed, irregular pulsations at the geostationary orbit and localised flow enhancements in the ionosphere were detected. We suggest that these inner magnetospheric phenomena were caused by the magnetosheath jets.
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    Temporal and spatial dynamics of the regions 1 and 2 Birkeland currents during substorms
    Clausen, Lasse B. N.; Baker, Joseph B. H.; Ruohoniemi, J. Michael; Milan, Stephen E.; Coxon, J. C.; Wing, S.; Ohtani, S.; Anderson, B. J. (American Geophysical Union, 2013-06-01)
    We use current density data from the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment (AMPERE) to identify the location of maximum region 1 current at all magnetic local times (MLTs). We term this location the R1 oval. Comparing the R1 oval location with particle precipitation boundaries identified in DMSP data, we find that the R1 oval is located on average within 1 degrees of particle signatures associated with the open/closed field line boundary (OCB) across dayside and nightside MLTs. We hence conclude that the R1 oval can be used as a proxy for the location of the OCB. Studying the amount of magnetic flux enclosed by the R1 oval during the substorm cycle, we find that the R1 oval flux is well organized by it: during the growth phase the R1 oval location moves equatorward as the amount of magnetic flux increases whereas after substorm expansion phase onset significant flux closure occurs as the R1 current location retreats to higher latitudes. For about 15 min after expansion phase onset, the amount of open magnetic flux continues to increase indicating that dayside reconnection dominates over nightside reconnection. In the current density data, we find evidence of the substorm current wedge and also show that the dayside R1 currents are stronger than their nightside counterpart during the substorm growth phase, whereas after expansion phase onset, the nightside R1 currents dominate. Our observations of the current distribution and OCB movement during the substorm cycle are in excellent agreement with the expanding/contracting polar cap paradigm.