Modeling of auroral scintillation produced by energetic electron precipitation using ionospheric plasma and forward propagation models

The high-latitude ionospheric plasma exhibits multiscale (105 m 102 m) spatial structure that evolves dynamically under the influence of external magnetospheric forcing and internal ionospheric processes. Density irregularities modify the phase and amplitude of transionospheric radio signals; such fluctuations are termed scintillations. In the auroral zone, electron precipitation from auroral arcs represents an important source of E- and F-region density structures and a strong correlation between auroral arcs and scintillation has been observed in a number of recent studies [Kinrade et al., 2013; Mrak et al., 2018]. The present work investigates effects of electron precipitation on formation of scintillation-producing density irregularities using a high-resolution (~250 m), physics-based, plasma structuring model, the Geospace Environment Model of Ion-Neutral Interactions (GEMINI), coupled to a radio propagation model, the Satellite-beacon Ionospheric-scintillation Global Model of the upper Atmosphere (SIGMA). We highlight effects of varying spatial and temporal content of the precipitation specifically the effects of electron total energy flux, characteristic energies in the context of a realistic auroral environment. We examine the sensitivity of structures and their different precipitation seeding to different satellite frequencies (e.g., VHF, UHF, L-band) and satellite ray-paths. Additionally, we compare our simulation results against data from collocated scintillation arrays, allsky camera, and incoherent scatter radar at the Poker Flat Research Range near Fairbanks, AK.