Multi‐Scale Ionospheric Poynting Fluxes Using Ground and Space‐Based Observations

Abstract

AbstractThree events are presented where high‐resolution measurements from the Swarm satellites coincided with excellent F‐region ionospheric coverage from The Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN). Large‐scale ionospheric convection patterns from SuperDARN, together with field‐aligned‐current patterns from he Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Response Experiment (AMPERE), provide information on quasi‐static ionospheric dynamics traversed by Swarm. Because the Swarm observations and orbital path coincided with favorable SuperDARN/AMPERE observing conditions, it was possible to filter the Swarm electric field observations into a quasi‐static component that agreed with the SuperDARN electric field. The residual electric field from Swarm is thus indicative of small‐ and mesoscale dynamics not captured by the convection and field‐aligned current (FAC) patterns. Calculations of the Poynting flux between the different instruments show that dynamics on small‐to mesoscales can be highly variable within structures like FACs. In the events shown, small‐ and medium‐scale Poynting fluxes occasionally dominate over those from large‐scale processes.