Neutral Wind Dynamics Measured Near the Poker Flat ISR Facility

We present a comparison between a new Fabry-Perot Interferometer at Poker Flat, AK (65.1 N, 147.5 W) and the Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GITM) for 19 January 2007. An additional FPI was installed at Fort Yukon, AK (66.6 N, 145.3 W). Both the Poker Flat FPI and Fort Yukon FPI operated continuously for the winter season of 2006-2007 collecting measurements of the thermospheric winds and temperatures from the OI 630- nm emission line. The Poker FPI measurements have errors of 5-10 ms-1 and 30-35 K for quiet times and 2-4 ms-1 and 6-12 K for periods of significant 630-nm emission. GITM is a relatively new, self-consistent, first-principles model of the coupled ionosphere-thermosphere system from 100 km to 500 km. The model run for 19 January 2007 was driven by the assimilative mapping of ionospheric electrodynamics (AMIE) techniques with input data including the Poker Flat ISR, GUVI data, and magnetometers. The horizontal neutral wind flows and the temperature are compared, and both are well modeled. The two dimensional flow patterns produced by the model at 240 km altitude are consistent with the measurements made by the FPIs.