Decoding Ionospheric Dynamics

What DRIIVE does 

The project uses the EISCAT_3D radar to study how the ionosphere behaves. It focuses on multi-scale coupling – how processes in the atmosphere and space interact at different sizes, from a few kilometres to hundreds of kilometres. 

Multi-scale coupling means changes at one scale can trigger or influence changes at much larger or smaller scales. 

The project looks at how these interactions are affected by space weather and changes in the lower atmosphere. It also studies how small changes in the upper atmosphere affect the orbits of satellites and space debris. 

Why this matters 

The ionosphere is a region high above Earth where gas molecules are split into charged particles by sunlight and space particles. It links our atmosphere to space and carries electric currents. 

It’s difficult to overestimate how vital the ionosphere is to all our lives. Space weather can disrupt and potentially destroy our 

• satellite orbits 
• radio communications 
• power grids 

Although these impacts are known, we still do not fully understand how the ionosphere responds to space weather or interacts with the rest of the atmosphere. Many models use large-scale averages, missing small-scale changes that can be critical. 

Our approach 

DRIIVE uses EISCAT_3D to:  

• measure the ionosphere at small scales 
• connect small-scale changes to larger patterns 
• understand how these changes affect satellites passing through the region 

Who is involved 

DRIIVE is led by British Antarctic Survey and partners using the EISCAT_3D radar system. 

The principle aim of DRIIVE is to exploit the new EISCAT_3D radar to explore the ionosphere at multiple scales. We will increase our understanding of the ionosphere’s fundamental underpinning science by exploiting EISCAT_3D’s new capabilities and to by explore the hidden 3D ionosphere in order to predict its impacts on the global earth system

The work in this project is spread across several related themes, all focused on interactions at spatial scales less than ~100 km in the high latitude, coupled Mesosphere-Thermosphere-Ionosphere.

There are four key objectives that form the principle work packages of DRIIVE:

1. determine the impact on the high latitude ionosphere of lower atmosphere forcing via small scale waves
2. establish how changes in the local composition affect ionospheric variability, and what drives this
3. quantify the energy deposition from energetic charged particle precipitation and Joule heating at small scales, and how this impacts variability
4. estimate the effect of small-scale changes to atmospheric heating on the space debris environment, through changes in atmospheric drag.

BAS scientists are involved in several of these work packages and lead two of them:

In Work Package 1 we will:

• determine the sources of ionospheric waves, whether in-situ or traced from the lower atmosphere
• quantify the ionospheric impact of these waves on instabilities
• estimate the underlying ionospheric variability driven by these wave

In Work Package 3 we will:

• identify the small-scale spatial distribution of the energy-flux of precipitation and Joule heating
• assess how EISCAT-derived ionisation rates compare with established particle inputs to whole atmosphere models
• estimate the relative balance of the forcing of the MLTI region between the lower atmosphere and space weather.

Diagram illustrating the important physical and chemical processes that contribute to the ionosphere, that DRIIVE will study