Electrodynamics of High Resolution Waves in the Ionosphere-Thermosphere System - Impacts on the Ionospheric Borrom-Side Profile

Gravity wave coupling of the Atmosphere/Thermosphere/Ionosphere system has been studied for a number of years. Upward propagating waves have been shown to travel up from the lower atmosphere into the lower thermosphere and even into the upper thermosphere. Traveling Atmospheric Disturbances have also been shown to impact the thermosphere; moving mass, momentum, and energy from high-latitudes to low- or mid-latitudes. Traveling ionospheric disturbances have also been observed and studied for many years. We have coupled the USU Global Thermosphere Model (GTM) both to the USU Ionosphere Plasmasphere Model (IPM) and the global electric field model of the USU Ionosphere Dynamics and Electrodynamics (IDED) model to study the electrodynamic coupling of waves between the thermosphere and ionosphere in a global setting. The impacts of such waves can cause scintillation, communications issues, geolocation errors, radar tracking errors, etc.; all of which can impact operational systems and models. Therefore, the impacts of these waves on the ionosphere and thermosphere and their inclusion in operational models, especially data assimilation models, needs to be addressed.