2024 Workshop: Wave coupling in the SAIR

Atmospheric waves are crucial to the transport and deposition of momentum and thermal energy throughout the middle and upper atmosphere. Upward propagating waves over a wide range of spatiotemporal scales alter the upper atmospheric state in multiple ways. These wave-induced changes in the thermosphere can also perturb the ionospheric state given that the primary source of ionosphere plasma is the photoionization of neutral constituents. Meanwhile, waves can directly alter the ionospheric electrodynamics through modulation of dynamo wind fields.

Recent ICON, GOLD, and COSMIC-2 missions provide cross-platform and multi-variable measurements of the ionosphere and thermosphere system (I-T system), which facilitates advancement of our understanding of whole atmosphere coupling. Whole and/or middle/upper atmospheric general circulation models (GCMs) have seen significant recent development, which efficiently fill the observational gaps that currently exist, especially in the data sparse region between 100-200 km. The use of GCMs allows for a detailed examination of coupling processes that may not be disentangled from observations. With three concurrent geospace missions over the past several years, opportunities for validating coupling processes can be leveraged. This workshop invites presentations on any subject that is of demonstrable relevance to the following topics, including but not limited to: 1) wave-wave interaction and corresponding impacts on the I-T system, 2) wave-induced transport and turbulence influence on structure, composition, and circulation, 3) plasma-neutral coupling through upward-propagating waves, and 4) current numerical modeling capabilities of understanding the coupling processes. It is desired that this workshop will allow participants to form collaborations for targeted observational and modeling studies of specific wave coupling phenomena to be executed in the future.