Simultaneous observation of neutral wind and plasma drift in the cusp region

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26400479
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Space and upper atmospheric physics
• Research Institution: Tomakomai National College of Technology (2016); Kochi University of Technology (2014-2015)
• Principal Investigator: Kakinami Yoshihiro 苫小牧工業高等専門学校, その他部局等, 准教授 (00437758)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): WATANABE Shigeto 北海道情報大学, 経営情報学部, 教授 (90271577) ; YAMAMOTO Masa-yuki 高知工科大学, システム工学群, 教授 (30368857)
• Research Collaborator: Larsen Miguel クレムソン大学, 教授
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: 熱圏風 / 熱圏大気 / 電離圏プラズマ / カスプ / プラズマドリフト / サウンディングロケット / 化学物質放出 / 海外学術調査

Outline of Final Research Achievements

An experiment of barium (Ba) and strontium (Sr) release from rocket was executed to investigate neutral density enhancement in the cusp region. Ba is ionized by extreme ultraviolet light. The resonance scattering light from Ba, Ba+ and Sr work as tracers of background neutral wind and plasma drift. From the observation, direction of neutral wind and plasma drift was different. Furthermore, strong neutral wind shear was found. The mechanism of the neutral density enhancement was not addressed because the chemicals was released out of the center of the cusp. However, the scheme of simultaneous observation of neutral wind and plasma drift was established.

Free Research Field

超高層物理学