| Session Details | |
| Section | ST - Solar & Terrestrial Sciences |
| Session Title | Recent Progresses in the Mesosphere, Lower Thermosphere, and Ionosphere (MLTI) science |
| Main Convener | Prof. Kyoung Min (KAIST, Korea, South) |
| Co-convener(s) | Prof. C. Z. Cheng (National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan) Dr. Y. Otsuka (STELAB, Japan) Dr. A. Saito (Kyoto University, Japan) |
| Session Description | It is well known that the phenomena of the mesosphere, thermosphere, ionosphere, and even the magnetosphere are coupled with each other from high latitudes to low latitudes. For example, the thermospheric winds at high latitudes are strongly influenced by the magnetospheric convection electric fields and the particle precipitation into the auroral regions. The newly found wavenumber-4 longitudinal structure in the equatorial ionosphere is believed to be associated with the diurnal tide in the lower thermosphere. The 27-day solar modulation of the topside ionosphere shows a similar variation in the oxygen ion fraction, with a delay of about two days which is also seen in the thermospheric density. The growing knowledge on the coupling of these space environments is largely based on the results of recent sophisticated observations as well as comprehensive modeling efforts. The purpose of this session is to discuss these recent progresses in observations, models, and applications to space weather. We invite presentations of the recent studies related to the phenomena of the mesosphere, thermosphere, and ionosphere as well as their couplings. We also invite presentations of future space observations related to these exciting regions. |