Satellite and Rocket Observations of Equatorial Spread-F Irregularities: A Two Dimensional Model.
Abstract
Recent rocket and satellite measurements of equatorial F-region irregularities have been able to resolve wavelengths comparable to the meter-size sensitivities of the Jicamarca and Altair radar backscatter techniques. In a July 1979 rocket campaign at the Kwajalein Atoll, vertical profile measurements by in-situ plasma probes showed the F-region marked by a number of large scale plasma depletions, each having its own distribution of smaller scale irregularities and a trend toward a co-location of the more intense irregularities with positive gradients of larger scale features. Similar measurements on the S3-4 Ionospheric Irregularities Satellite have shown large scale depletions (1-3 orders of magnitude) with east-west asymmetries that point toward the western wall as the site for the more intense plasma density fluctuations. The combined rocket and satellite measurements provide a two-dimensional model of macroscopic F-region depletions with small structures tending to develop more readily on the top and western boundaries. The model and associated power spectral analyses is in concert with a developing catalog of radar observations and the predictions of numerical simulations which employ the Rayleigh-Taylor instability as the primary mechanism for the generation of intermediate wavelength irregularities. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 17, 1981
- Accession Number
- ADA096562
Entities
People
- Edward P. Szuszczewicz
- J. C. Holmes
- Manish Singh
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory