A 2-D comparison of ionospheric convection derived from SuperDARN and DMSP measurements

Ion drift vectors measured by the DMSP satellites are compared with plasma convection vectors obtained by the SuperDARN HF radars through the standard Map Potential algorithm of Ruohoniemi and Baker [Ruohoniemi, M., Baker, K.B. Large-scale imaging of high-latitude convection with super dual auroral radar network HF radar observations. J. Geophys. Res. 103, 20797–20811, 1998]. Despite significant data spread, the agreement can be qualified as reasonable for a data set comprising of 149 satellite passes over the Northern Hemisphere at high latitudes. The slope of the best-fit line relating SuperDARN and DMSP velocity magnitudes is of the order of 0.3 with a tendency for the SuperDARN velocities to be smaller. The agreement between the azimuths of the ion drift and convection is better with the slope of the best-fit line being close to 1. It is shown that consistency between the radar and satellite measurements is much better if the SuperDARN line-of-sight velocities are compared with the DMSP cross-track ion drifts for events showing slow spatial and temporal variations of the convection. If areas of strong convection changes are included into comparison, the degree of agreement deteriorates drastically. This result implies that differences in the spatial and temporal resolutions of DMSP and SuperDARN measurements are crucial factors contributing to the observed discrepancies. In addition, some differences are introduced when the SuperDARN line-of-sight velocities are filtered and reprocessed into vectors with the application of a background convection model.     

SuperDARN cross polar cap potential dependence on the solar wind conditions and comparisons with models

In this study SuperDARN Cross Polar Cap Potentials (CPCPs), collected over the year 2000, are investigated with a goal to statistically assess its relationship with various parameters of the solar wind and Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF). We show that SuperDARN CPCPs tend to cluster around discrete values, prescribed by the statistical model, unless the amount of points on each convection map is above ∼300. By selecting CPCP data obtained with radar coverage of >300 points, we investigate the CPCP relationship with IMF B_z and B_y, IMF clock angle, solar wind speed and dynamic pressure, Alfven velocity, Alfven–Mach number, and interplanetary electric field. Some reported tendencies, such as dependence upon IMF B_z, were found to be consistent with measurements by other instruments. We demonstrate that SuperDARN CPCPs show consistency with several theories/empirical models (predicting the CPCP) in terms of a linear trend but, on average, the slopes of the dependencies are at least two times smaller. We also determine the coupling function, out of those published in literature, best correlating with SuperDARN CPCPs.