Thermospheric Climatology

The neutral upper atmosphere, the Thermosphere, plays an important role in the characteristics of Earth's ionosphere. Collisions between the high-density neutral atmosphere and ions at altitudes near 100 km above the Earth impede ion motion, creating electrical resistivity which impacts the overall electrical coupling between ionosphere and magnetosphere. This resistivity in the ionospheric E region is the electrical load for the disturbance currents generated in the interaction of the solar wind with our magnetosphere.

The characteristics of the upper neutral atmosphere respond both to processes associated with the lower-altitude regions as gravity waves and composition changes make their influences felt in the sensitive I-T coupling region. The effect of thermospheric characteristics on the Space Weather response of the coupled system is an area of active research. Time histories of radar and optical observations are enabling a climatology of this region to be developed, and long-duration experiments are being mounted to address the wave modes which couple energy through the I-T interaction region.

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