Authors: S.B. Mende, T.J. Immel
Affiliation: University of California, Berkeley, Space Science Laboratory
Global imaging is a powerful technique for the measurement of solar influences on the atmosphere. The time and spatial scales of these global images are ideally suited for the testing global. Solar variability of the precipitating particle energy inputs into the polar atmospheric regions were routinely monitoring by satellite based far ultraviolet (FUV) imagers. The FUV instrument suite on the IMAGE spacecraft was able to extend this capability by measuring the proton produced component of the precipitation. Simultaneous global imaging of the daytime FUV radiation of the earth disk in oxygen and nitrogen emissions allows global observation of the solar storm induced upwelling of molecular nitrogen at high and mid-latitudes. Measurements of nighttime recombination emissions provide a global capability of directly monitoring the nighttime ionospheric F region. The IMAGE FUV OI imaging measurements show excellent correspondence between the global distribution of the emission intensity and total electron content as measured by GPS networks. Imaging of the near equatorial nightglow is particularly useful in tracking ionospheric depletions (bubbles). The IMAGE data shows that the speed of super rotation of these near equatorial ionospheric features is also influenced by solar variability.