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High-latitude polar pattern of ionospheric electron density: Scaling features and IMF dependence

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G. Consolini, R. Tozzi, P. De Michelis, I. Coco, F. Giannattasio, M. Pezzopane, M.F. Marcucci, and G. Balasis.

We used electron density measurements over a period of 15 months from April 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015, from ESA Swarm A satellite, and computed the related 1st and 2nd order scaling exponents of the q-th order structure function.

Polar view plot of the isolines corresponding to the Hurst exponent equal to 0.5. Hurst exponent isolines are shown for different IMF clock angle intervals. Each interval is represented by a different colour according to the legend shown inside the figure (bottom rightside). The polar plot is in the Quasi-Dipole latitude and Magnetic Local Time (MLT) reference frame.

We mapped them as a function of magnetic latitude and local time for four main orientations of the Interplanetary Magnetic Field under conditions of high solar activity (average solar radio flux – F10.7 – index equal to 140 ± 30 sfu, during the considered period). On the whole, the found patterns of the electron density 1st and 2nd order scaling exponents suggest the occurrence of turbulence at the high latitudes.

Publication: G. Consolini, R. Tozzi, P. De Michelis, I. Coco, F. Giannattasio, M. Pezzopane, M.F. Marcucci, and G. Balasis, High-latitude polar pattern of ionospheric electron density: Scaling features and IMF dependence, Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics, 2021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jastp.2020.105531