Work

The Impact of Adaptive High‐Latitude Coordinates

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The high‐latitude ionosphere can be divided into three regions dominated by different types of coupling and characterized by distinctive behaviors. These are the polar cap, the auroral region, and the sub‐auroral region. Their locations are highly variable, changing in extent in response to driving conditions in the solar wind and within the magnetosphere. We discuss how defining high‐latitude coordinates relative to the boundaries between these physically significant regions (adaptive co‐ordinates) has major implications for statistical studies, modeling applications, and research combining magnetospheric and ionospheric data. We explore the impact of using adaptive co‐ordinates for statistical analyses of ionospheric vorticity, showing how using adaptive co‐ordinate systems provides a clearer picture of the latitudinal variation of vorticity, and how peaks and troughs in vorticity relate to the boundary locations.

Source: Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: 10.1029/2025gl115265

Authors: Gareth Chisham, Angeline G. Burrell, Kate A. Zawdie

Institutions: British Antarctic Survey, United States Naval Research Laboratory, Naval Research Laboratory Space Science Division

Language: English

Topic: Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics

Subfield: Astronomy and Astrophysics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $3,190