The objective of this project is to improve estimates of the high latitude electrodynamic forcing of the thermosphere through quantification of variable electric fields and auroral precipitation, and through analysis of their influences on the thermosphere and on ionospheric currents. The PIs propose to construct an empirical model of high-latitude electric fields and auroral precipitation that includes both average and variable components, and that quantifies magnitudes, coherences, and the correlation between the field and the precipitation. Data will come from the Dynamics Explorer-2 (DE-2) spacecraft and from incoherent scatter radars. The PIs will validate this new model by using it as input to the NCAR Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (TIE-GCM) and comparing their results with high-latitude observations of ground magnetic variations and neutral thermospheric winds and temperatures, including both mean values and standard deviations.
