TY - JOUR
T1 - Plasma-Neutral Interactions in the Lower Thermosphere-Ionosphere: The need for in situ measurements to address focused questions
AU - Sarris, Theodoros
AU - Palmroth, Minna
AU - Aikio, Anita
AU - Buchert, Stephan C
AU - Clilverd, Mark
AU - Dandouras, Iannis
AU - Doornbos, Eelco
AU - Goodwin, Lindsay
AU - Grandin, Maxime
AU - Heelis, Roderick
AU - Ivchenko, Nickolay
AU - Moretto-Jørgensen, Therese
AU - Kervalishvili, Guram
AU - Knudsen, David
AU - Liu, Han Li
AU - Lu, Gang
AU - Malaspina, David M.
AU - Marghitu, Octav
AU - Maute, Astrid
AU - Miloch, Wojciech J.
AU - Olsen, Nils
AU - Pfaff, Robert
AU - Stolle, Claudia
AU - Talaat, Elsayed
AU - Thayer, Jeffrey
AU - Tourgaidis, Stelios
AU - Verronen, Pekka T.
AU - Yamauchi, Masatoshi
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - The lower thermosphere-ionosphere (LTI) is a key transition region between Earth’s atmosphere and space. Interactions between ions and neutrals maximize within the LTI and in particular at altitudes from 100 to 200 km, which is the least visited region of the near-Earth environment. The lack of in situ co-temporal and co-spatial measurements of all relevant parameters and their elusiveness to most remote-sensing methods means that the complex interactions between its neutral and charged constituents remain poorly characterized to this date. This lack of measurements, together with the ambiguity in the quantification of key processes in the 100 to 200 km altitude range affect current modeling efforts to expand atmospheric models upward to include the LTI and limit current space weather prediction capabilities. We present focused questions in the LTI that are related to the complex interactions between its neutral and charged constituents. These questions concern core physical processes that govern the energetics, dynamics, and chemistry of the LTI and need to be addressed as fundamental and long-standing questions in this critically unexplored boundary region. We also outline the range of in situ measurements that are needed to unambiguously quantify key LTI processes within this region, and present elements of an in situ concept based on past proposed mission concepts.
AB - The lower thermosphere-ionosphere (LTI) is a key transition region between Earth’s atmosphere and space. Interactions between ions and neutrals maximize within the LTI and in particular at altitudes from 100 to 200 km, which is the least visited region of the near-Earth environment. The lack of in situ co-temporal and co-spatial measurements of all relevant parameters and their elusiveness to most remote-sensing methods means that the complex interactions between its neutral and charged constituents remain poorly characterized to this date. This lack of measurements, together with the ambiguity in the quantification of key processes in the 100 to 200 km altitude range affect current modeling efforts to expand atmospheric models upward to include the LTI and limit current space weather prediction capabilities. We present focused questions in the LTI that are related to the complex interactions between its neutral and charged constituents. These questions concern core physical processes that govern the energetics, dynamics, and chemistry of the LTI and need to be addressed as fundamental and long-standing questions in this critically unexplored boundary region. We also outline the range of in situ measurements that are needed to unambiguously quantify key LTI processes within this region, and present elements of an in situ concept based on past proposed mission concepts.
KW - Lower Thermosphere Ionosphere
KW - Plasma neutral interactions
KW - In situ measurements
KW - Decadal survey
KW - Atmosphere space transition region
KW - Altitudes below 200 km
KW - LTi
KW - Ion neutral coupling
U2 - 10.3389/fspas.2022.1063190
DO - 10.3389/fspas.2022.1063190
M3 - Journal article
SN - 2296-987X
VL - 9
JO - Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
JF - Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
M1 - 1063190
ER -