The ability to predict conditions in Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere is of increasing societal relevance due to the growing dependence on, for example, satellite based communications and navigation (e.g., GPS) systems.
The ability to predict conditions in Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere is of increasing societal relevance due to the growing dependence on, for example, satellite based communications and navigation (e.g., GPS) systems.
The second Miniature X-ray Solar Spectrometer (MinXSS-2) CubeSat builds on the success of MinXSS-1. The science instrument is more advanced – now capable of greater dynamic range with higher energy resolution.
We observe the abrupt end of solar activity cycles at the Sun’s Equator by combining almost 140 years of observations from ground and space.
Daytime thermospheric winds observed by the balloon-borne instrument HIWIND (High altitude Interferometer WIND experiment) during two flights in June 2011 and 2018 from Kiruna (68°N, 20°E), along with simultaneous EISCAT (European Incoherent SCATter radar) ion drift data, are analyzed.
Despite the increasing resolution, forcing on the mean circulation by resolved waves in general circulation models is not yet converging. Parameterization of the forcing remains a major source of model uncertainty.