New Thermospheric Wind Observations at NCAR

NCAR HAO has been building and deploying Fabry Perot interferometers (FPI) to various locations around the world and high altitude balloons to measure thermospheric winds. Thermospheric winds are one of the critical parameters for understanding ionosphere from high to low latitudes. Recently, NCAR deployed a sub-auroral FPI in Athabasca, Canada and another at low latitudes in Korhogo, Ivory Coast. These two FPIs will contribute the space weather research at NCAR and help validate NCAR ionosphere and thermospheric wind models. The Athabasca FPI will be used to study the SAPS effect on the thermospheric winds. The Korhogo FPI will be used to study low latitude thermospheric winds and its impact on the occurrence of spread F. In addition, the Korhogo FPI will also be used to study tides in the equatorial region and vertical coupling between the mesosphere and ionosphere. We will show the new data from these two instruments and possible application for space weather research.