Large-Scale Traveling Atmospheric and Ionospheric Disturbances Observed in GUVI With Multi-Instrument Validations.

This study presents multi-instrument observations of persistent large-scale traveling ionosphere/atmospheric disturbances (LSTIDs/LSTADs) observed during moderately increased auroral electrojet activity and a sudden stratospheric warming in the polar winter hemisphere. The Global Ultraviolet Imager (GUVI), Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer, Scanning Doppler Imaging Fabry-Perot Interferometers, and the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar are used to demonstrate the presence of LSTIDs/LSTADs between 19 UT and 5 UT on 18-19 January 2013 over the Alaska region down to lower midlatitudes. This study showcases the first use of GUVI for the study of LSTADs. These novel GUVI observations demonstrate the potential for the GUVI far ultraviolet emissions to be used for global-scale studies of waves and atmospheric disturbances in the thermosphere, a region lacking in long-term global measurements. These observations typify changes in the radiance from around 140 to 180 km, opening a new window into the behavior of the thermosphere.

Effects of Subauroral Polarization Streams on the Upper Thermospheric Winds During Non-Storm Time.

Intense sunward (westward) plasma flows, named Subauroral Polarization Stream (SAPS), have been known to occur equatorward of the electron auroras for decades, yet their effect on the upper thermosphere has not been well understood. On the one hand, the large velocity of SAPS results in large momentum exchange upon each ion-neutral collision. On the other hand, the low plasma density associated with SAPS implies a low ion-neutral collision frequency. We investigate the SAPS effect during non-storm time by utilizing a Scanning Doppler Imager (SDI) for monitoring the upper thermosphere, SuperDARN radars for SAPS, all-sky imagers and DMSP Spectrographic Imager for the auroral oval, and GPS receivers for the total electron content. Our observations suggest that SAPS at times drives substantial (>50 m/s) westward winds at subauroral latitudes in the dusk-midnight sector, but not always. The occurrence of the westward winds varies with AE index, plasma content in the trough, and local time. The latitudinally averaged wind speed varies from 60 to 160 m/s, and is statistically 21% of the plasma. These westward winds also shift to lower latitude with increasing AE and increasing MLT. We do not observe SAPS driving poleward wind surges, neutral temperature enhancements, or acoustic-gravity waves, likely due to the somewhat weak forcing of SAPS during the non-storm time.

Resolving Vertical Variations of Horizontal Neutral Winds in Earth's High Latitude Space-Atmosphere Interaction Region (SAIR).

Few remote sensing or in-situ techniques can measure winds in Earth's thermosphere between altitudes of 120 and 200 km. One possible approach within this region uses Doppler spectroscopy of the optical emission from atomic oxygen at 558 nm, although historical approaches have been hindered in the auroral zone because the emission altitude varies dramatically, both across the sky and over time, as a result of changing characteristic energy of auroral precipitation. Thus, a new approach is presented that instead uses this variation as an advantage, to resolve height profiles of the horizontal wind. Emission heights are estimated using the Doppler temperature derived from the 558 nm emission. During periods when the resulting estimates span a wide enough height interval, it is possible to use low order polynomial functions of altitude to model the Doppler shifts observed across the sky and over time, and thus reconstruct height profiles of the horizontal wind components. The technique introduced here is shown to work well provided there are no strong horizontal gradients in the wind field. Conditions satisfying these caveats do occur frequently and the resulting wind profiles validate well when compared to absolute in-situ wind measurements from a rocket-borne chemical release. While both the optical and chemical tracer techniques agreed with each other, they did not agree with the HWM-14 horizontal wind model. Applying this technique to wind measurements near the geomagnetic cusp footprint indicated that cusp-region forcing did not penetrate to atmospheric heights of 240 km or lower.

Use of mobile technology in a community mental health setting.

INTRODUCTION: mHealth holds promise in transforming care for people with serious mental illness (SMI) and other disadvantaged populations. However, information about the rates of smartphone ownership and usage of mobile health apps among people with SMI is limited. The objective of this research is to examine the current ownership, usage patterns, and existing barriers to mobile health interventions for people with SMI treated in a public sector community mental health setting and to compare the findings with national usage patterns from the general population. METHODS: A survey was conducted to determine rates of ownership of smartphone devices among people with SMI. Surveys were administered to 100 patients with SMI at an outpatient psychiatric clinic. Results were compared with respondents to the 2012 Pew Survey of mobile phone usage. RESULTS: A total of 85% of participants reported that they owned a cell phone; of those, 37% reported that they owned a smartphone, as compared with 53% of respondents to the Pew Survey and 44% of socioeconomically disadvantaged respondents to the Pew Survey. DISCUSSION: While cell phone ownership is common among people with SMI, their adoption of smartphone technology lags behind that of the general population primarily due to cost barriers. Efforts to use mHealth in these populations need to recognize current mobile ownership patterns while planning for anticipated expansion of new technologies to poor populations as cost barriers are reduced in the coming years.

Deriving wavelength spectra from fringe images from a fixed-gap single-etalon Fabry-Perot spectrometer.

A new method is described for inferring wavelength spectra from two-dimensional images of Fabry-Perot interference fringes. This new method addresses the practical difficulties that have been previously encountered in determining the fringe image's center, magnification, and distortions accurately enough to fully exploit the spectral resolution provided by the etalon. The method proceeds in two steps. First, the instrument's mapping of image position to interference order is characterized by use of images of a scene illuminated uniformly by a highly monochromatic laser. Then this information is applied to resample two-dimensional images of unknown radiation sources down to sets of one or more one-dimensional wavelength spectra. Discrete cross-correlation techniques are used at both stages of anal-