The investigators will study topside ionospheric dynamics, composition, and temperature using observations from two incoherent scatter radars and two satellites from the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP). The ability to combine date from the two sources provides the opportunity to identify and quantify the influences of F-region neutral winds, and plasma drifts on the topside ionosphere composition, temperature, and velocity. The data will be interpreted with the aid of a model that calculates the distributions of ionospheric constituents, their temperatures, and velocities along magnetic field lines. Winds in the F region modulate the location and density of the ionization layer, which in turn affects the distribution of plasma partial pressures resulting in field-aligned ion flows. The ion flows transport heat and produce adiabatic heating and cooling in the topside ionosphere due to the changing magnetic flux volume. The objective is to establish the observed relationships between F-region dynamics and topside ionospheric composition and temperature
