The overall goal of this project is to improve the description of the dynamics in the upper atmosphere associated with vertical winds and to advance our understanding of the coupling between the ionosphere and thermosphere, which can significantly influence the variation of the neutral density. Specifically, the goals are: 

(1) Analyze FPI vertical wind observations at F-region altitudes in the aurora zone.
(2) Simulate vertical winds in the cusp during storm periods with GITM in high resolution. 
(3) Process data of FPI observations at F-region heights from equatorial Brazil and conduct a climatological study of vertical wind at low latitudes for the first time.
(4) Investigate the influence of vertical wind caused by the perpendicular ion-drag force on the equatorial thermosphere anomaly (ETA) for the first time using the non-hydrostatic GITM.