Multi-satellite ionospheric drift from the Swarm mission

Abstract:

In this presentation we describe characteristics and use-cases of a recently-released dataset of topside ionosphere ion drift and electric field measurements from the European Space Agency's three-satellite Swarm mission. The data span mid-December 2013 through mid-2020. Ion drifts are derived from thermal ion imagers, which obtain images of the distribution of ion energy (~5 eV) and angle of arrival at each satellite. Electric fields are calculated from the drifts and magnetic fields. We present multi-satellite comparisons of the temporal and spatial variability of auroral electrodynamics and high-latitude ion upflow, and illustrate potential applications of this technique for future multi-satellite observations of ionospheric drifts.