Study of Magnetic Activity Effects on the Thermospheric Winds in the LowIonosphere

摘要

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the effects of magnetic activity on thelow latitude F-region thermospheric winds. The F-region (120-1600 km) is a partially ionized medium where 0+ and 0 are the major ion and neutral species, respectively. The thermospheric winds at these altitudes are driven primarily by pressure gradient forces resulting from the solar heating during the day and cooling at night. For this study, we use measured Fabry-Perot Interferometer (FPI) winds at Arequipa (16.5 deg S, 71.5 deg W) and measured FPI and incoherent Scatter Radar (ISR) winds at Arecibo (18.6 deg N, 66.8 deg W).