The Daytime F Layer Trough and Its Relation to Ionospheric-Magnetospheric Convection
Abstract
The daytime F layer trough is studied by means of an extensive network of ground-based ionospheric sounders in the northern hemisphere under conditions of solar maximum near winter solstice. The trough is observed to be a continuous band having an instantaneous extent of thousands of kilometers consisting of depletions in the daytime electron density, often by an order of magnitude. It lies in regions of sunward ionospheric-magnetospheric convection, an afternoon sector corresponding to the dusk cell, a morning sector corresponding to the dawn cell, and morphology and activity dependence consistent with convection. As detected in the diurnal distributions of f(o)F(2) , the trough is a persistent feature at high latitudes, appearing on each day of a 31-day period of continuous observation, and, although highly variable from day to day, is apparent in the monthly medians. Reprints.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1989
- Accession Number
- ADA219742
Entities
People
- J. A. Whalen
Organizations
- Air Force Systems Command