Sounding rocket studies of ionospheric turbulence above Svalbard

Every morning between about 06 UT and 11 UT, Svalbard rotates just below the cusps (dayside aurora), where direct coupling between the solar wind, magnetosphere and ionosphere occurs. This provides a unique window to study the dayside aurora and the highly dynamic processes associated with it, examples of which include electron and ion precipitation and heating, electrostatic and electromagnetic waves, as well as turbulence. In this work, we focus on the turbulence which, alongside with being of pure scientific interest, can also have societal impacts. Indeed, the “irregular” electron density structures associated with it can affect our technology infrastructures by for instance degrading High Frequency (HF) communication and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) signals. After briefly reviewing some of the mechanisms believed to be important in the development of turbulence in the high-latitude ionosphere, we present recent observations of density irregularities obtained by sounding rockets above Svalbard. We focus on measurements made as a part of the Grand Challenge Initiative (GCI) Cusp, an international project combining sounding rockets missions and ground-based instruments to study the cusps. We show detailed characterization of the nature of the irregularities including their phase velocity and wavelengths, helping shedding light onto the process(es) involved in their formation, especially at the scales important for Space weather applications.