Validating Thermospheric Neutral Winds Produced by a Global Model

The neutral winds in the thermosphere are extremely important, since they advect mass, momentum and energy throughout the system. Recently, neutral wind data have been made available in the auroral zone through measurements made by the Scanning Doppler Interferometers in Alaska and at mid-latitudes and the auroral zone through measurements by imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometers located across the Eastern United States and in Alaska. These new data, obtained by making measurements of the 630.0-nm nightglow emission, allows modelers the opportunity to explore how well their simulations reproduce the winds at approximately 240-km altitude. In this study, we explore how well the Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model reproduces features, such as the structure and dynamics in the horizontal flows and the strong vertical winds in the auroral zone during active time periods, and the quiet-time wind structure throughout the night at mid-latitudes across different seasons.