Neutral Winds in the Equatorial Thermosphere as Measured With the SOFDI Instrument (ePoster)

The Second‐generation, Optimized, Fabry‐Perot Doppler Imager (SOFDI), a triple‐etalon Fabry‐Perot interferometer, is designed to measure both nighttime and daytime thermospheric winds from OI 630‐nm emission. These continual 24‐hour observations of thermospheric winds made with SOFDI under the geomagnetic equator at Huancayo, Peru, during northern summer, provide a unique data set. Results obtained from these data set are compared to the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) derived from  total electron content (TEC) and Jicamarca incoherent scatter radar (ISR) measurements of the pre‐reversal enhancement (PRE). We investigate the dynamics of the EIA asymmetry in response to measured thermospheric winds. A direct relationship between the afternoon winds and the magnitude of the PRE is also reported. The large variability of winds is observed in the afternoon which is likely caused by synoptic tidal activity modulating gravity waves. Also, a comparison between the measured neutral winds to that obtained from Horizontal Wind Model 14 is demonstrated. These results confirm the role that the thermospheric winds play in modulating equatorial dynamics and further demonstrate the need for both zonal and meridional components of the wind flow.