Characterization of the Thermospheric Mean Winds and Circulation during Solstice using ICON/MIGHTI Observations

TL;DR

This study uses ICON/MIGHTI observations to characterize the mean thermospheric winds and circulation during solstice, revealing variability, dominant wind patterns, and altitude-dependent structures crucial for modeling the upper atmosphere.

Contribution

First comprehensive climatology of thermospheric mean winds during solstice using continuous ICON/MIGHTI data, highlighting variability and circulation patterns across altitudes.

Findings

Significant spatiotemporal variability in horizontal winds exceeding ±150 m/s.

Eastward and northward winds dominate in the lower thermosphere, indicating gravity wave momentum deposition.

Smaller scale structures in the lower thermosphere become more homogeneous at higher altitudes.

Abstract

Using the horizontal neutral wind observations from the MIGHTI instrument onboard NASA's ICON (Ionospheric Connection Explorer) spacecraft with continuous coverage, we determine the climatology of the mean zonal and meridional winds and the associated mean circulation at low- to middle latitudes ($10^\circ$S-40$^{\circ}$N) for Northern Hemisphere {summer} solstice conditions between 90 km and 200 km altitudes, specifically on 20 June 2020 solstice as well as for a one-month period from 8 June-7 July 2020 {and for Northern winter season from 16 December 2019-31 January 2020, which spans a 47-day period, providing full local time coverage}. The data are averaged within appropriate altitude, longitude, latitude, solar zenith angle, and local time bins to produce mean wind distributions. The geographical distributions and local time variations of the mean horizontal circulation are evaluated. The instantaneous horizontal winds exhibit a significant degree of spatiotemporal variability often exceeding $\pm 150 $ m s$^{-1}$. The daily averaged zonal mean winds demonstrate day-to-day variability. Eastward zonal winds and northward (winter-to-summer) meridional winds are prevalent in the lower thermosphere, which provides indirect observational evidence of the eastward momentum deposition by small-scale gravity waves. The mean neutral winds and circulation exhibit smaller scale structures in the lower thermosphere (90-120 km), while they are more homogeneous in the upper thermosphere, indicating the increasingly dissipative nature of the thermosphere. The mean wind and circulation patterns inferred from ICON/MIGHTI measurements can be used to constrain and validate general circulation models, as well as input for numerical wave models.