Comparison of Nightside Ionospheric Instabilities in 135.6 nm Airglow from GOLD and IMAGE

Nightside 135.6 nm airglow provides information about ionospheric O+. Instabilities on the nightside lead to the generation of complex structures which can be viewed as variations in airglow brightness. The 135.6 nm airglow must be detected from orbit as the light is absorbed by the atmosphere at lower altitudes. Low Earth orbit is ideal for higher spatial resolutions, but generally provides instruments with a small field-of-view relative to the size of ionospheric structures. High Earth orbit, conversely, is ideal to view the same structures across several hours and over a large region of the Earth, albeit with a lower spatial resolution. IMAGE-FUV SI-13 observations during solar maximum and GOLDs solar minimum observations are analyzed for the first comparison of the IMAGE and GOLD data sets. The focus of this comparison is on occurrence rates, spacing, size, and drift speeds of plasma bubbles seen. This comparison will focus on the similarities and differences between these two.