Latitudinal variation of thermospheric hydrogen near solstice from AE-D observations

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

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA093iA09p09945· OSTI ID:5876069

Sanatani, S; Breig, E L ^[1]

---

1. Univ. of Texas, Richardson (United States)

The authors describe an investigation of the variation of neutral atomic hydrogen with latitude in the thermosphere during a solstice season near solar minimum. Neutral hydrogen concentrations were derived with the charge exchange method applied to in-situ ion and neutral composition measurements in the F region. The primary basic data were acquired with the polar-orbiting AE-D satellite which provided excellent latitudinal coverage within small increments of local time around the December 1975 solstice. Hydrogen concentrations at low latitude are comparable to those found under similar conditions from observations with AE-E satellite but are slightly larger than concentrations given by the MSIS-83 atmospheric model. Results, normalized to 300 km, for a morning-daytime period confirm the general summer-to-winter density increase, the large latitudinal gradients in the summer hemisphere, and the winter enhancement of hydrogen observed in various AE-C nighttime measurements. The AE-D data, however, provide evidence for a small polar depression in hydrogen concentration at high winter latitudes similar to but of lesser latitudinal extent than the inferred from OGO 8 optical observations in the exosphere.

• OSTI ID: 5876069
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 93:A9; 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
CHARGE EXCHANGE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
DISTRIBUTION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
ELEMENTS
EXPLORER SATELLITES
F REGION
GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATIONS
HYDROGEN
IONOSPHERE
LATITUDE EFFECT
NONMETALS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
POLAR REGIONS
QUANTITY RATIO
SATELLITES
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION
THERMOSPHERE
VARIATIONS