Controlling of the F Region Plasma Structures by the E Region Conductance in the Auroral Ionosphere

Abstract At high latitudes, the E and F regions of the ionosphere are strongly coupled through nearly vertical magnetic field lines. To simultaneously and directly relate the E and F regions' plasma structures, we ran a coordinated conjunction campaign between Swarm satellites and Incoherent Scatter Radar in Tromsø, Norway, during a moderate geomagnetic storm in late March 2025. For the first time, we quantitatively compare the E region Pedersen conductance with the power spectra of electron density structures and irregularities. The 11 conjunctions considered in the study show consistent results: when the E region conductance is above 3 S (based on the linear fit of the 11 conjunction events), the F region plasma structures tend to have double‐slope power spectra. This result can be explained by enhanced cross‐field diffusion of small‐scale plasma structures when the F region ionosphere is connected to a highly conducting E region below.

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Publication Details

Journal
Geophysical Research Letters
Published
2026-07-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2026gl122043
Primary Topic
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Controlling of the F Region Plasma Structures by the E Region Conductance in the Auroral Ionosphere

Magnus F. Ivarsen, Elisabetta Iorfida, Lei Cai, Alan Wood et al.
Geophysical Research Letters
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
article

Controlling of the F Region Plasma Structures by the E Region Conductance in the Auroral Ionosphere

Magnus F. Ivarsen, Elisabetta Iorfida, Lei Cai, Alan Wood, Heikki Vanhamäki, Ilkka Virtanen, Marcus Pedersen, Yaqi Jin, Anita T Aikio, Daria Kotova, Luca Spogli, Wojciech J. Miloch, Jaroslav Urbář
article en

Abstract

Abstract At high latitudes, the E and F regions of the ionosphere are strongly coupled through nearly vertical magnetic field lines. To simultaneously and directly relate the E and F regions' plasma structures, we ran a coordinated conjunction campaign between Swarm satellites and Incoherent Scatter Radar in Tromsø, Norway, during a moderate geomagnetic storm in late March 2025. For the first time, we quantitatively compare the E region Pedersen conductance with the power spectra of electron density structures and irregularities. The 11 conjunctions considered in the study show consistent results: when the E region conductance is above 3 S (based on the linear fit of the 11 conjunction events), the F region plasma structures tend to have double‐slope power spectra. This result can be explained by enhanced cross‐field diffusion of small‐scale plasma structures when the F region ionosphere is connected to a highly conducting E region below.

Geophysical Research LettersVol. 53(14)
Met Office (GB), University of Oslo (NO), Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (IT), University of Saskatchewan (CA), Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Atmospheric Physics (CZ), European Space Research and Technology Centre (NL), University of Oulu (FI)
European Space Agency, Academy of Finland, HORIZON EUROPE European Research Council
Life below water
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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