Investigating Large-Scale Gravity Waves in ICON Far Ultraviolet Data

NASA’s Ionospheric Connection Explorer (ICON) Explorer has collected thermosphere data in the 90–300 km altitude range. Using data from the Far Ultraviolet Imaging Spectrograph (FUV) onboard, it has been observed that there are large-scale structures within the data (smaller than the long-term tidal variations, but too large to be attributed to noise). Previously, large-scale variations have been observed using thermospheric wind data from the Michelson Interferometer for Global High-resolution Thermospheric Imaging (MIGHTI) instrument, and were proposed to be inertia gravity waves. This study will assess the utility of limb FUV observations to further characterize these gravity wave structures in the thermosphere.