Arecibo]La Plata geomagnetically conjugate ionospheric model

CAMILION E.; RODRIGUEZ R.; AZPILICUETA F.; JANCHES D.; BRUNINI C.

Workshop; CEDAR Workshop; 2010

National Science Foundation, EE.UU.

In the context of the AIRES (Argentine Ionospheric Research Station) project a theoretical model to simulate Arecibo]La Plata geomagnetically conjugatedionospheric processes is being developed at the Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas of the Universidad Nacional de La Plata. This model is our firstattempt to reproduce the dynamics of the upper atmosphere by solving the coupled equations of continuity, momentum and energy balance for the different ionized species that are found in the ionosphere. It is a numerical model that describes the time]dependent evolution of the ionosphere and calculates density distributions for the electron and ion species as a function of latitude, longitude, and altitude on a pre]specified spatial grid. The model also calculates the fieldalignedion velocity and electron and ion temperatures on the same spatial grid. This work summarizes the current status of the development and discusses the further steps that will be needed to implement and validate the Arecibo]La Plata geomagnetically conjugate ionospheric model.