Investigation on the coupling of the ionosphere-thermosphere system and the lower atmosphere through solar tides with data and the Global Ionosphere/Thermosphere Model (GITM)
The lower atmospheric tides are important for coupling of the ionosphere-thermosphere-lower-atmosphere. They are generated in the troposphere and stratosphere due to solar irradiation and propagate upward maximizing in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. They can penetrate into the ionosphere-thermosphere contributing to the day-to-day ionospheric variabilities by driving the wind-dynamo directly or/and by changing the momentum and energy indirectly. There is a strong desire in the community to understand both what drives tidal penetration and the effects of those tides on the thermosphere and ionosphere. This drives the need to measure the atmospheric state in the region from 80 to 150 km altitude and simulation experiment of the coupling of the lower-atmospheric tides and the ionosphere-thermosphere system. This talk will discuss the characteristics of the global tides observed by the wind measurements from the TIMED Doppler Interferometer onboard the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Mesosphere Energetics and Dynamics (TIMED) satellite, the effects of the lower-atmospheric tides on the ionosphere and thermosphere using the Global Ionosphere/Thermosphere Model (GITM), and a framework for analyzing ionospheric electrodynamics.
Dr. Wu is currently an assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan. She earned a B.S. in Electronic Information Science and Technology in 2013 and a Ph.D. in Space Physics in 2018 from the Wuhan University in China. Her current research focuses on studying ionospheric electrodynamic drivers and structures by merging data and model.