The ionospheric signature of auroral and subauroral fast flows activity is an ESA EOSS (EO Science for Society) project. EOSS is one of the five EOEP (Earth Observation Envelope Programme) core activities (2017-2021).

The ionospheric signature of auroral and subauroral fast flows project is a Living Planet Fellowship research project carried out by William Edward Archer.

The ESA Swarm satellite mission is advancing the cutting edge of ionospheric space physics. Combined high-resolution measurements of electron density, electron temperature, and electric and magnetic fields provide a robust picture of the electrodynamics of this energetic region. The team will leverage the high-quality measurements of the Swarm satellites to advance our understanding of narrow regions of fast flow in the auroral and subauroral regions. These flows often exceed 1 km/s, span less than 100 km in latitude, persisting for several hours.

The Swarm mission has already contributed significantly to the study of subauroral ion drifts (SAID) and Birkeland current boundary flows (BCBF). Both phenomena are scientifically relevant topics that are not fully understood. With this proposal, we will continue the study of these phenomena by leveraging newly available Swarm data products.

More information about this project

This project is funded by ESA.