Ionospheric Hall conductivity deduced from ground-based measurements

Journal Article · Sun May 01 04:00:00 EDT 1988 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA093iA05p04125· OSTI ID:5875762

Nielsen, E ^[1]; Senior, C ^[2]; Luehr, H ^[3]

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1. Max Planck Inst. fuer Aeronomie, Katlenburg-Lindau (West Germany)
2. Centre de Recherches en Physique de l'Environement, St.-Maur des Fosses (France)
3. Technische Univ., Braunschweig (West Germany)

The ionospheric height-integrated hall conductivity has been derived from two different techniques: first, by combining ground-based magnetometer observations with measurements of the ionospheric electric field made by the Scandinavian Twin Auroral Radar Experiment (STARE), a coherent radar system, and, second, by combining electron density measurements made by the European incoherent scatter radar (EISCAT) with a neutral atmosphere model. For the events analyzed, EISCAT did not operate in a mode that allowed the electron and ion temperatures to be measured below 131 km. In the analysis these temperatures are therefore assumed to be of the same magnitude. For small electric fields (25 mV/m) the authors find the two conductivity estimates to be in good agreement. However, for large fields (75 mV/m) the former method yields a conductivity value larger by a factor of 1.5 than the latter method. They interpret this result as being due to an increase of the electron temperature above the ion temperature, possibly assoicated with the excitation of unstable short-scale plasma waves in the ionospheric E region. The combination of STARE and magnetometer data is demonstrated to lead to realistic estimates of the Hall conductivity in the eastward electrojet.

• OSTI ID: 5875762
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 93:A5; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661320* -- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CURRENTS
DATA ANALYSIS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELECTRIC CONDUCTIVITY
ELECTRIC CURRENTS
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES
ELECTROJETS
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRON TEMPERATURE
GROUND LEVEL
ION TEMPERATURE
IONOSPHERE
LEVELS
MEASURING INSTRUMENTS
MEASURING METHODS
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
RADAR
RANGE FINDERS