Daytime F-layer trough

Technical Report · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:7188831

Whalen, J A

The trough in the daytime winter F-layer ionization is a fundamental feature of ionospheric-magnetospheric convection causing depletions of an order of magnitude in the electron density at the F-layer maximum near midday. As observed by a world-wide array of ionospheric sounders at high northern latitudes during solar maximum, the daytime trough is present on each day of a continuous 31 day period, is stable in Mlat/MLT and is continuously present for many hours. It is found to have 2 components, one in the morning and one in the afternoon corresponding to the dawn and dusk convection cells. These troughs show pronounced dependence on longitude corresponding to the relative variation of the solar geomagnetic frame of reference of the convection pattern with respect to the solar terrestrial frame of the undisturbed daytime F layer. Regions of depleted ionospheric plasma named troughs by Muldrew have long been recognized as nighttime phenomena. However troughs in the daytime seem to be the subject of much controversy since they have been seen sporadically and generally associated with disturbed conditions.

• Research Organization: Air Force Geophysics Lab., Hanscom AFB, MA (USA)
• OSTI ID: 7188831
• Report Number(s): AD-A-217943/0/XAB; GL-TR-90-0010
• Resource Relation: Other Information: Pub. in Physics of Space Plasmas SPI, Vol. 8, 441-453(1988)
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
F REGION
DISTURBANCES
ELECTRON DENSITY
CONVECTION
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
GLOBAL ASPECTS
IONIZATION
IONOSONDES
IONOSPHERE
NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
PLASMA
VARIATIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH PLANET
ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
ENERGY TRANSFER
EQUIPMENT
HEAT TRANSFER
MASS TRANSFER
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLANETS
RADIO EQUIPMENT
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena