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Observations Of Ionospheric Heating During The Passage Of Solar Coronal Hole Fast Streams, Jan Josef Sojka, R. L. Mcpherron, A. P. Van Eyken, M. J. Nicolis, C. J. Heinselman, J. D. Kelley

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Using ionospheric temperature measurements made continuously by the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) and EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) during the International Polar Year (IPY), we provide evidence for directly driven ionospheric heating associated with the solar wind corotating interaction region (CIR). Both ESR and PFISR operated almost continuously during the IPY, which began on 1 March 2007. During this period 55 CIR events occurred and when ISR observations were available during these events ionospheric heating was observed. This study is the first comprehensive observation of ionospheric heating by CIRs demonstrated through case study comparisons and statistically over the 1-year …