Search

A photochemical equilibrium model of the high-latitude ionosphere has been developed. This model provides densities of the ionospheric constituents, N2(+), O2(+), O(+), and NO(+), from 85 km to approximately 220 km. These densities are then used to calculate Pedersen and Hall conductivities. A comparison of the model results with Arecibo and Chatanika radar observations was made, covering periods of solar minimum and solar maximum. The comparison showed the model to predict ionospheric densities to within 50 percent and conductivities to within 40 percent in the illuminated portion of the ionosphere. In regions of electron precipitation, the model showed good agreement with measurements. Results of this study indicate the following: (1) ionospheric conductivity increases by a factor of about 1.6 from solar minimum to solar maximum conditions, (2) the portion of the ionosphere above 170 km can contribute as much as 40 percent during daylight and 80 percent during nighttime to the total height-integrated Pedersen conductivity, and (3) the ratio of the height-integrated Hall to Pedersen conductivities is approximately 1.1-1.3 for sunlit conditions; this is appreciably lower than the value of 2 found in previous studies. These and other factors indicate that, under certain conditions, the height-integrated Pedersen conductivity may be as much as 2-3 times larger than previously reported.

The Global Thermospheric Mapping Study (GTMS) is a multi-technique experimental study of the thermosphere designed to map simultaneously its spatial and temporal morphology with a thoroughness and diversity of measurement techniques heretofore unachieved. The GTMS is designed around the Incoherent Scatter Radar Chain in the western hemisphere. The European incoherent scatter radars and the worldwide communities of Fabry-Perot interferometers, meteor wind radars, partial reflection drifts radars, MST radars, and satellite probes are included to extend the spatial coverage and types of measurements available. Theoretical and modeling support in the areas of thermospheric and ionospheric structure, tides, and electric fields are included to aid in program planning and data interpretation. Solar activity was low on the three observation days (F10.7 = 97, 98, 96) and magnetic conditions were unsettled to active (A = 10, 12, 20). All six incoherent scatter radar facilities collected data. Each collected F region data day and night while Saint Santin and Millstone Hill additionally collected E region data during daylight hours. Initial results from Sondrestrom and Millstone Hill are presented. Good quality Fabry Perot data were collected at Fritz Peak and San Jose dos Campos. Weather conditions produced poor results at Arequipa and Arecibo. Initial results from Fritz Peak are presented. Mesosphere/lower-thermosphere observations were conducted under the ATMAP organization. The magnetometer chains also were operational during this campaign. Initial thermospheric general circulation model predictions were made for assumed solar-geophysical conditions, and selected results are presented.

Sondrestrom incoherent-scatter radar measurements of plasma drift in the auroral oval and the polar cap are used to examine the effect of the IMF B(y) component in the dusk, midnight, and dawn sectors. The individual radar observations are briefly reviewed, and the average convection patterns obtained by binning the drift data for the two orientations of the IMF B(y) component are shown. These patterns are compared to the various models of convection that have been proposed. None of the models seem to reproduce the observed convections well, although some features of the models are seen in the radar data.

Sondrestrom radar observations reveal that the dawn-dusk (By) component of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strongly influences the nightside polar convection. This effect is quite complex. The convection for one orientation of By is not the mirror image of the other orientation. A positive By (i.e., pointing toward dusk) seems to organize the velocities such that, at all local times, they are predominantly westward within the radar field-of-view (approximately 68 deg-to-82 deg invariant latitude). Between dusk and midnight, on one such occasion, sunward flow is observed within the polar cap. In the midnight and dawn sectors, when By is negative, the plasma velocities often appear shifted toward early hours such that large southward velocities are observed about 3 hours before midnight. These are the only times when the predominant velocity component is southward.

Coincident auroral-zone experiments using three incoherent-scatter radars at widely spaced longitudes are reported. The observational results demonstrate that, during the night, the F layer electron density is strongly dependent on the longitude of the observing site. Ionization patches were observed in the nighttime F region from the Chatanika and EISCAT radars, while densities observed from the Millstone radar were substantially smaller. The electron density within these maxima is larger at EISCAT than at Chatanika. When observed in the midnight sector auroral zone, these densities had a peak density at a high altitude of 360-475 km. The density was maximum when EISCAT was in the midnight sector and minimum when Millstone was in the midnight sector. A minimum in insolation in the auroral zone occurs at the UT when Millstone is in the midnight sector.

Dayside ionosphere convection at high latitudes has been examined during a series of experiments using the Sondrestrom radar together with ancillary observations of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) by the IMP-8 spacecraft. The radar experiments obtained a latitude coverage of 67.6 to 81.3 deg Lambda and a temporal resolution of between 14 to 25 minutes. A total of 17 rotations through the dayside cleft region during April, June and July, 1983 have been examined. The observations show two convection cells with sunward flow at lower latitudes and antisunward flow at higher latitudes. The flow commonly rotates through a 180 deg angle resulting in the predominant appearance of east-west flows. Rapid temporal variations in the convection velocities are frequently observed. Many of the high latitude variations in convection velocity appear to be directly related to variations in the IMF By component, with eastward (westward) velocity associated with negative (positive) By. This is strong evidence for a direct electrical coupling between the solar wind and dayside high latitude ionosphere.

Data management for Mesospheric-Stratospheric-Tropospheric, (MST) radars is addressed. An incoherent-scatter radar data base is discussed in terms of purpose, centralization, scope, and nature of the data base management system.

In this paper we describe the results of a series of geomagnetic meridian plane radar incoherent scatter plasma transport measurements. From such data the eastward (zonal) component of the electric field can be deduced. The results show that the electric field has an eastward component whenever the discrete auroras are northward of the region of the measurement. The zonal field component turns westward as the discrete auroras move equatorward of the region of the measurement. Thus, there is an eastward electric field boundary near the equatorward limit of the discrete aurora, which is the poleward boundary of the diffuse aurora during undisturbed periods. During a particularly disturbed period, we also observed three pronounced substorm-related enhancements of the westward-directed zonal field. For midnight and morning sector substorms, the enhancements preceded the substorm onset times by 20-30 min.

Measurements of night-time 6300 A airglow intensities at the Arecibo Observatory have been compared with dissociative recombination calculations based on electron densities derived from simultaneous incoherent backscatter measurements. The agreement indicates that the nightglow can be fully accounted for by dissociative recombination. The comparisons are examined to determine the importance of quenching, heavy ions, ionization above the F-layer peak, and the temperature parameter of the model atmosphere. Comparable fits between the observed and calculated intensities are found for several available model atmospheres. The least-squares fitting process, used to make the comparisons, produces comparable fits over a wide range of combinations of neutral densities and of reaction constants. Yet, the fitting places constraints upon the possible combinations; these constraints indicate that the latest laboratory chemical constants and densities extrapolated to a base altitude are mutually consistent.

By analyzing an observed storm time auroral electron temperature profile it is shown that anomalous transport effects strongly influence the thermal structure of the disturbed auroral ionosphere. Such anomalous transport effects are a consequence of plasma turbulence, the existence of which has been established by a large number of observations in the auroral ionosphere. The electron and composite ion energy equations are solved with anomalous electron thermal conductivity and parallel electrical resistivity coefficients. The solutions are parameterized with respect to a phenomenological altitude-dependent anomaly coefficient A and are compared with an observed storm time electron temperature profile above Chatanika. The calculated temperature profile for the classical case (A = 1) disagrees considerably with the measured profile over most of the altitude range up to 450 km. It is shown that an anomaly coefficient with a sharp peak of the order of 10,000 centered around the F2 peak is consistent with observations.

Spectra of plasma wave intensities in the ionosphere over Arecibo are calculated and compared with those from observations of the plasma line intensity. This approach involving directly observed quantities avoids the uncertainties that have plagued past comparisons with photoelectron theory. In addition, careful comparisons in physically relevant segments of the spectra show that any significant increase in the magnitude of the solar EUV flux would lead to a contradiction of the observed plasma wave intensities. Further, the comparisons indicate that resolution of the thermal electron-gas heat balance problem must be sought through better heat transfer rates (e.g., heating and cooling rates, etc.), rather than in the solar EUV. This approach utilizes more fully the potential of the plasma line experiment as a diagnostic tool for aeronomical studies, (e.g., photoelectrons, auroral secondaries, ionosphere-modification experiments, etc.).

The paper presents the results of comparisons of AE-C electron temperature of the ionosphere determined from the cylindrical electrostatic probe and the ion temperature of the ionosphere determined from the planar retarding potential analyzer with electron and ion temperatures determined from four incoherent scatter facilities: Arecibo, St. Santin, Millstone Hill, and Chatanika. Good agreement was obtained between the in situ and remote measurements of electron and ion temperatures. Longitudinal variations are found to be very important in the comparison of electron temperatures at some locations.

Incoherent scatter and tilting filter photometer data from Arecibo Observatory were combined to search for a contribution to the 6300 A predawn enhancement due to impact excitation by photoelectrons from the magnetic conjugate point. Prior to about 105 deg conjugate solar zenith angle, calculations of the 6300 A intensities due to dissociative recombination gave good agreement with the observed intensities. Then, with the arrival of conjugate photoelectrons (confirmed by plasma line enhancements), the observed intensities rose above the calculated, the difference increasing until a plateau was achieved at a conjugate solar zenith angle of about 95 deg. The difference or residual intensity is attributed to direct photoelectron impact excitation. Significant day-to-day variations in the onset angle and intensity have a strong negative correlation with ionospheric electron density.