Studies of ionospheric dynamics utilizing data from DMSP

This report covers efforts primarily devoted to the reduction of ion drift meter data from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) satellite. This work has required the development of sophisticated algorithms to generate in-situ ion drift velocity data with respect to the spacecraft and the derivation of an electrostatic potential distribution along the spacecraft track. This initial effort has been directed toward satisfying the needs of mathematical models of the high-latitude convection pattern, with some effort devoted to the improvement of the formulations currently in use. This report discusses the rationale for the preparation of data bases of the ion drift velocity and derived parameters from the DMSP data. The function of this computer code is described in detail to allow other users to make use of its capabilities.