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Auroral E-Region Plasma Waves Andelevated Electron Temperatures, Bela G. Fejer, J. Providakes, D. T. Farley, W. E. Swartz
Auroral E-Region Plasma Waves Andelevated Electron Temperatures, Bela G. Fejer, J. Providakes, D. T. Farley, W. E. Swartz
Bela G. Fejer
We have observed 3-m auroral E region plasma waves with a high-resolution 50-MHz radar interferometer at Ithaca. During postmidnight periods of very strong magnetic activity at Ottawa (L = 3.5), the backscattered power and Doppler spectra vary rapidly with time and range and may have both mean Doppler shifts and half power widths in excess of 200 Hz (600 m/s). In addition, when the radar and magnetometer data imply that the current is approximately parallel to the radar line of sight, sharp spectral peaks corresponding to phase velocities approaching 1 km/s sometimes appear suddenly. These persist for at most several …
Theory Of Plasma Waves In The Auroral E-Region, Bela G. Fejer, J. Providakes, D. T. Farley
Theory Of Plasma Waves In The Auroral E-Region, Bela G. Fejer, J. Providakes, D. T. Farley
Bela G. Fejer
We have extended the linear fluid theory of electrojet plasma waves to the region where ion magnetization effects are important. Our general dispersion relation includes the effect of cross-field and field-aligned drifts, ion inertia, electron density gradients, and recombination. In the absence of density gradients and recombinational damping, the oscillation frequency at marginal instability is changed by the ion magnetization effects from the ion acoustic frequency, ω = kCs, to the modified ion cyclotron frequency ω² = Ωi² + k²Cs². These upper E region waves can be driven by field-aligned and/or cross-field drifts and have the smallest threshold drift velocities …
Radar Measurements Of Neutral Winds And Temperatures In The Equatorial E Region, B. B. Balsley, Bela G. Fejer, D. T. Farley, R. F. Woodman
Radar Measurements Of Neutral Winds And Temperatures In The Equatorial E Region, B. B. Balsley, Bela G. Fejer, D. T. Farley, R. F. Woodman
Bela G. Fejer
The phase velocity of type 1 irregularities in the equatorial electrojet, which can be easily measured by radar, depends upon both the ion acoustic velocity (and hence the temperature) in the medium and the neutral wind velocity. By measuring the phase velocity at several zenith angles both of these quantities in principle can be determined. This note describes the technique and its limitations and presents a few preliminary results obtained at 50 MHz at the Jicamarca Radar Observatory in Peru. These results show E region east-west wind velocities as large as 100 m/s, temperature variations of greater than 100°K, and …