Morphology of auroral zone radio wave scintillation
This paper describes the morphology of midnight sector and morning sector auroral zone scintillation observations made over a two-year period using the Wideband satelite, which is in a sun-synchronous, low-altitude orbit. No definitive seasonal variation was found. The nighttime data showed the highest scintillation ocurrence levels, but significant amounts of morning scintillation were observed. For the most part the scintillation activity followed the general pattern of local magnetic activity. The most prominent feature in the nightime data is a localized amplitude and phase scintillation enhancement at the point where the propagation vector lies within an L shell. A geometrical effect due to a dynamic slab of sheetlike structures in the F region is hypothesized as the source of his enhancement. The data have been sorted by magnetic activity, proximity to local midnight, and season. The general features of the data are in agreement with the accepted morphology of auroral zone scintillation.
- Research Organization:
- SRI International, Radio Physics Laboratory, Menlo Park, California 94025
- OSTI ID:
- 5126218
- Journal Information:
- J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Vol. 85:A8
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAL ZONES
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
ALASKA
F REGION
MORPHOLOGY
SATELLITES
SCINTILLATIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
IONOSPHERE
NORTH AMERICA
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
RADIATIONS
USA
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena