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Full-Text Articles in Physics

Observations Of The Vertical Ion Drift In The Equatorial Ionosphere During The Solar Minimum Period Of 2009, R. A. Stoneback, R. A. Heelis, A. G. Burrell, W. R. Coley, Bela G. Fejer, E. Pacheco Dec 2011

Observations Of The Vertical Ion Drift In The Equatorial Ionosphere During The Solar Minimum Period Of 2009, R. A. Stoneback, R. A. Heelis, A. G. Burrell, W. R. Coley, Bela G. Fejer, E. Pacheco

Bela G. Fejer

[1] The extended solar minimum conditions in 2008 and 2009 presented an opportunity to investigate the ionosphere at lower solar activity levels than previously observed. The Coupled Ion Neutral Dynamics Investigation (CINDI) Ion Velocity Meter (IVM) instrument onboard the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System is used to construct the median meridional (vertical) ion drifts, ion densities, and O+ concentrations during periods of low geomagnetic activity for four characteristic seasons each year spanning late 2008 to 2010. The presence of a large semidiurnal component in the ion drift variation at the equator produced significant differences from typical ionospheric conditions. Instead of upward …


Enhanced Lunar Semidiurnal Equatorial Vertical Plasma Drifts During Sudden Stratospheric Warmings, Bela G. Fejer, B. D. Tracy, J. L. Chau Nov 2011

Enhanced Lunar Semidiurnal Equatorial Vertical Plasma Drifts During Sudden Stratospheric Warmings, Bela G. Fejer, B. D. Tracy, J. L. Chau

Bela G. Fejer

[1] Large scale electrodynamic and plasma density variations in the low latitude ionosphere have recently been associated with sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) events. We present average patterns of largely enhanced lunar semidiurnal equatorial vertical plasma drift perturbations during arctic winter low and high solar flux SSW events. These perturbations play a dominant role in the electrodynamic response of the low latitude ionosphere to SSWs. Our models indicate that the amplitudes of the enhanced lunar semidiurnal drifts are strongly local time and solar flux dependent, with largest values during early morning low solar flux SSW periods. These results suggest that ionospheric …


Seasonal And Longitudinal Dependence Of Equatorialdisturbance Vertical Plasma Drifts, Bela G. Fejer, J. W. Jensen, S. Y. Su Oct 2008

Seasonal And Longitudinal Dependence Of Equatorialdisturbance Vertical Plasma Drifts, Bela G. Fejer, J. W. Jensen, S. Y. Su

Bela G. Fejer

[1] We used equatorial measurements from the ROCSAT-1 satellite to determine the seasonal and longitudinal dependent equatorial F region disturbance vertical plasma drifts. Following sudden increases in geomagnetic activity, the prompt penetration vertical drifts are upward during the day and downward at night, and have strong local time dependence at all seasons. The largest prompt penetration drifts near dusk and dawn occur during June solstice. The daytime disturbance dynamo drifts are small at all seasons. They are downward near dusk with largest (smallest) values during equinox (June solstice); the nighttime drifts are upward with the largest magnitudes in the postmidnight …


Quiet Time Equatorial F Region Vertical Plasma Drift Model Derived From Rocsat-1 Observations, Bela G. Fejer, J. W. Jensen, S. Y. Su May 2008

Quiet Time Equatorial F Region Vertical Plasma Drift Model Derived From Rocsat-1 Observations, Bela G. Fejer, J. W. Jensen, S. Y. Su

Bela G. Fejer

[1] We have used five years of measurements on board the ROCSAT-1 satellite to develop a detailed quiet time global empirical model for equatorial F region vertical plasma drifts. This model describes the local time, seasonal and longitudinal dependence of the vertical drifts for an altitude of 600 km under moderate and high solar flux conditions. The model results are in excellent agreement with measurements from the Jicamarca radar and also from other ground-based and in situ probes. We show that the longitudinal dependence of the daytime and nighttime vertical drifts is much stronger than reported earlier, especially during December …


Assimilative Modeling Of The Equatorial Ionosphere For Scintillation Forecasting: Modeling With Vertical Drifts, J. M. Retterer, D. T. Decker, W. S. Borer, R. E. Daniell, Bela G. Fejer Nov 2005

Assimilative Modeling Of The Equatorial Ionosphere For Scintillation Forecasting: Modeling With Vertical Drifts, J. M. Retterer, D. T. Decker, W. S. Borer, R. E. Daniell, Bela G. Fejer

Bela G. Fejer

[1] Knowledge of the vertical plasma drift velocity observed by the Jicamarca incoherent radar in seven events is assimilated into a theoretical model for the ambient F region plasma density. Comparisons of the calculated plasma density model and the observed plasma density show that, apart from the signature effects of equatorial plasma bubbles, the ambient model captures much of the detail of the plasma density profiles. Rayleigh-Taylor growth rates calculated with the ambient model show a good correlation with the occurrence of spread F.


The Lunar Tide In The Equatorial F Region Vertical Ion Drift Velocity, R. J. Stening, Bela G. Fejer Jan 2001

The Lunar Tide In The Equatorial F Region Vertical Ion Drift Velocity, R. J. Stening, Bela G. Fejer

Bela G. Fejer

Vertical ion drift velocity data from Jicamarca have been analyzed for a lunar semidiurnal tide using a least squares fitting method. Amplitudes of up to 6 m s−1 are obtained with phases in agreement with lunar tidal determinations of other associated physical parameters. Variations between season, solar activity, and day to night are also examined. Generally, amplitudes are larger in the southern summer. Much of the phase variation with season is very similar for solar maximum and minimum years. There is a summer to winter phase change that is most distinct at solar maximum nighttime. A day-to-night phase reversal can …


Simulation Of The Prereversalenhancement In The Low Latitude Vertical Drifts, C. G. Fesen, R. G. Noble, A. D. Richmond, G. Crowley, Bela G. Fejer Jul 2000

Simulation Of The Prereversalenhancement In The Low Latitude Vertical Drifts, C. G. Fesen, R. G. Noble, A. D. Richmond, G. Crowley, Bela G. Fejer

Bela G. Fejer

Low latitude F region ion motions exhibit strong seasonal and solar cycle dependences. The pre-reversal enhancement (PRE) in the vertical ion drifts is a particularly well-known low latitude electrodynamic feature, exhibited as a sharp upward spike in the velocity shortly after local sunset, which remains poorly understood theoretically. The PRE has been successfully simulated for the first time by a general circulation model, the National Center for Atmospheric Research thermosphere/ionosphere/electrodynamic general circulation model (TIEGCM). The TIEGCM reproduces the zonal and vertical plasma drifts for equinox, June, and December for low, medium, and high solar activity. The crucial parameter in the …


Effects Of The Vertical Plasma Drift Velocity On The Generation And Evolution Of Equatorial Spread F, Bela G. Fejer, L. Scherliess, E. R. De Paula Sep 1999

Effects Of The Vertical Plasma Drift Velocity On The Generation And Evolution Of Equatorial Spread F, Bela G. Fejer, L. Scherliess, E. R. De Paula

Bela G. Fejer

We use radar observations from the Jicamarca Observatory from 1968 to 1992 to study the effects of the F region vertical plasma drift velocity on the generation and evolution of equatorial spread F. The dependence of these irregularities on season, solar cycle, and magnetic activity can be explained as resulting from the corresponding effects on the evening and nighttime vertical drifts. In the early night sector, the bottomside of the F layer is almost always unstable. The evolution of the unstable layer is controlled by the history of the vertical drift velocity. When the drift velocities are large enough, the …


Radar And Satellite Global Equatorial F-Region Vertical Drift Model, L. Scherliess, Bela G. Fejer Apr 1999

Radar And Satellite Global Equatorial F-Region Vertical Drift Model, L. Scherliess, Bela G. Fejer

Bela G. Fejer

We present the first global empirical model for the quiet time F region equatorial vertical drifts based on combined incoherent scatter radar observations at Jicamarca and Ion Drift Meter observations on board the Atmospheric Explorer E satellite. This analytical model, based on products of cubic-B splines and with nearly conservative electric fields, describes the diurnal and seasonal variations of the equatorial vertical drifts for a continuous range of all longitudes and solar flux values. Our results indicate that during solar minimum, the evening prereversal velocity enhancement exhibits only small longitudinal variations during equinox with amplitudes of about 15–20 m/s, is …


Determination Of Horizontal And Vertical Structure Of A Novel Pattern Of Short Period Gravity Waves Imaged During Aloha-93, Michael J. Taylor, D. C. Fritts, J. R. Isler Oct 1995

Determination Of Horizontal And Vertical Structure Of A Novel Pattern Of Short Period Gravity Waves Imaged During Aloha-93, Michael J. Taylor, D. C. Fritts, J. R. Isler

All Physics Faculty Publications

An all‐sky CCD imager has been used to measure the properties of short period gravity waves present over the Hawaiian Islands during the ALOHA‐93 campaign. Observations of emissions from four different altitudes provided a capability to describe the vertical as well as the horizontal structure of the wave field. On several occasions during this campaign an unusual morphology wave pattern was detected that consisted of a group of small‐scale waves oriented in the same direction. These were most noticeable in the OI (557.7 nm) emission, altitude ∼96 km, and were usually observed in association with a larger scale gravity wave. …


Global Equatorial Ionosphericvertical Plasma Drifts Measured By The Ae-E Satellite, Bela G. Fejer, E. R. De Paula, R. A. Heelis, W. B. Hanson Jan 1995

Global Equatorial Ionosphericvertical Plasma Drifts Measured By The Ae-E Satellite, Bela G. Fejer, E. R. De Paula, R. A. Heelis, W. B. Hanson

Bela G. Fejer

Ion drift meter observations from the Atmosphere Explorer E satellite during the period of January 1977 to December 1979 are used to study the dependence of equatorial (dip latitudes ≤ 7.5°) F region vertical plasma drifts (east-west electric fields) on solar activity, season, and longitude. The satellite-observed ion drifts show large day-to-day and seasonal variations. Solar cycle effects are most pronounced near the dusk sector with a large increase of the prereversal velocity enhancement from solar minimum to maximum. The diurnal, seasonal, and solar cycle dependence of the longitudinally averaged drifts are consistent with results from the Jicamarca radar except …


Average Vertical And Zonal F-Region Plasma Drifts Over Jicamarca, Bela G. Fejer, E. R. De Paula, S. Gonzalez, R. F. Woodman Aug 1991

Average Vertical And Zonal F-Region Plasma Drifts Over Jicamarca, Bela G. Fejer, E. R. De Paula, S. Gonzalez, R. F. Woodman

Bela G. Fejer

The seasonal averages of the equatorial F region vertical and zonal plasma drifts are determined using extensive incoherent scatter radar observations from Jicamarca during 1968–1988. The late afternoon and nighttime vertical and zonal drifts are strongly dependent on the 10.7-cm solar flux. We show that the evening prereversal enhancement of vertical drifts increases linearly with solar flux during equinox but tends to saturate for large fluxes during southern hemisphere winter. We examine in detail, for the first time, the seasonal variation of the zonal plasma drifts and their dependence on solar flux and magnetic activity. The seasonal effects on the …


Equatorial F-Regionvertical Plasma Drifts During Solar Maxima, Bela G. Fejer, E. R. De Paula, I. S. Batista, E. Bonelli, R. F. Woodman Sep 1989

Equatorial F-Regionvertical Plasma Drifts During Solar Maxima, Bela G. Fejer, E. R. De Paula, I. S. Batista, E. Bonelli, R. F. Woodman

Bela G. Fejer

Incoherent scatter radar measurements at Jicamarca are used to study the effects of large solar fluxes and magnetic activity on the F region vertical plasma drifts. The average drifts from the two last solar maxima are almost identical except in the late afternoon-early evening sector where their variations with solar flux and magnetic activity are strongly season dependent. The average evening winter (May-August) drifts appear to remain almost constant after a certain solar flux level is reached but increase with magnetic activity. The equinoctial evening drifts increase systematically with solar-flux but decrease with magnetic activity. Very large prereversal enhancement velocities, …


On The Height Variation Of The Equatorial F-Region Vertical Plasmadrifts, J. E. Pingree, Bela G. Fejer May 1987

On The Height Variation Of The Equatorial F-Region Vertical Plasmadrifts, J. E. Pingree, Bela G. Fejer

Bela G. Fejer

We have used improved incoherent scatter radar measurements at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory to study the height variation of the F region vertical plasma drift velocity (driven by the zonal electric field) during moderately quiet conditions. Preliminary results indicate a nearly linear change of the vertical drift velocity with altitude between 200 and 700 km, but with considerable day-to-day variations in the value of the slope. On the average, the velocity gradients are positive in the late night and morning periods and negative during the afternoon and evening hours. Simultaneous vertical and zonal drift measurements confirm that the measured height …


Vertical Structure Of The Vhf Backscattering Region In The Equatorial Electrojet And The Gradient Drift Instability, Bela G. Fejer, D. T. Farley, B. B. Balsley, R. F. Woodman Jan 1975

Vertical Structure Of The Vhf Backscattering Region In The Equatorial Electrojet And The Gradient Drift Instability, Bela G. Fejer, D. T. Farley, B. B. Balsley, R. F. Woodman

Bela G. Fejer

Radar measurements made with high spatial resolution and large dynamic range at the Jicamarca Radar Observatory near the time of reversal of the electrojet current provide further proof that the gradient drift instability is in fact responsible for the type 2 irregularities. Echoes are received over a much wider range of altitudes at night than during the day partly because of the change in character of the background electron density profile and partly because of recombination effects, which can be important during the day. It is also shown that one must be cautious, particularly at night, in associating the mean …