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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics
Solar Cycle And Seasonal Variationsin F Region Electrodynamics At Millstone Hill, M. J. Buonsanto, M. E. Hagan, J. E. Salah, Bela G. Fejer
Solar Cycle And Seasonal Variationsin F Region Electrodynamics At Millstone Hill, M. J. Buonsanto, M. E. Hagan, J. E. Salah, Bela G. Fejer
Bela G. Fejer
Incoherent scatter radar observations of ion drifts taken at Millstone Hill (42.6°N, 288.5°E) during 73 experiments in the period February 1984 to February 1992 are used to construct, for the first time at this station, average quiet-time E×B drift patterns for both solar cycle maximum and minimum, for the summer, winter, and equinox seasons. The daily variation of V⊥N shows a reversal from northward to southward drifts near noon, and a return to northward drifts in the premidnight hours. The weaker southward drift in the afternoon in summer noted by Wand and Evans (1981) is shown to occur only at …
F-Region Plasma Drifts Over Arecibo: Solar Cycle, Seasonal And Magnetic Activityeffects, Bela G. Fejer
F-Region Plasma Drifts Over Arecibo: Solar Cycle, Seasonal And Magnetic Activityeffects, Bela G. Fejer
Bela G. Fejer
We have used Arecibo incoherent scatter measurements from 1981 to 1990 to determine the characteristics of low-latitude F region plasma drifts. The measurements show large day-to-day variability even during magnetically quiet periods. The average poleward/perpendicular plasma drifts do not change significantly with season and solar cycle except in the midnight-morning sector. The zonal drifts show clear solar cycle and seasonal effects. The afternoon-nighttime eastward drifts increase with solar flux; the westward drifts in the early morning-afternoon sector show a large increase from summer to winter but are independent of solar activity. The two perpendicular velocity components also respond differently to …
Seasonal Variations In Theequatorial Thermospheric Wind Measured At Arequipa, Peru, M. A. Biondi, J. W. Meriwether, Bela G. Fejer, S. A. Gonzalez
Seasonal Variations In Theequatorial Thermospheric Wind Measured At Arequipa, Peru, M. A. Biondi, J. W. Meriwether, Bela G. Fejer, S. A. Gonzalez
Bela G. Fejer
Studies have been carried out at Arequipa, Peru, of the seasonal variations in the thermospheric winds at moderate solar flux levels and low geomagnetic activity. Fabry-Perot interferometer measurements of the Doppler shifts in the 630.0 nm nightglow emission line from March to August 1983 and from April to October 1988 have yielded monthly-average meridional winds that are nearly zero (<50 m/s) and possibly fluctuating in direction through much of the night but develop a southward flow at 50–100 m/s in the early and the late night from May onward. The average zonal winds are eastward throughout the night, reaching peak velocities before local midnight and then decreasing. The peak velocities increase to a maximum around the June solstice. The winds are generally stronger in 1988 than in 1983, even though the solar EUV fluxes are comparable for both years. Comparison of the present results with earlier satellite measurements, as embodied in the Horizontal Wind Model of Hedin et al., reveals generally satisfactory agreement at the equinox and June solstice, except for the June 1988 period. Killeen et al.'s vector spherical harmonic form of the NCAR Thermospheric General Circulation Model, calculated for similar solar flux levels, yields meridional and zonal wind variations which exhibit the same temporal behaviors but generally smaller values than the present measurements. The present wind patterns are also compared with those measured during the same years at Arecibo, Puerto Rico; one finds oppositely directed meridional flows and similar, eastward zonal flows at the two locations, as expected from a consideration of solar EUV heating as the principal driving force.
Directional And Dynamic Variations Ofauroral Power Spectra Related To The Ionospheric Electron Drift Velocity, E. Nielsen, C. I. Haldoupis, Bela G. Fejer, H. M. Ierkic
Directional And Dynamic Variations Ofauroral Power Spectra Related To The Ionospheric Electron Drift Velocity, E. Nielsen, C. I. Haldoupis, Bela G. Fejer, H. M. Ierkic
Bela G. Fejer
Power spectral observations of auroral electron density fluctuations with a scale length of nearly 1 m have been made with the STARE system (Scandinavian twin auroral radar experiment). Simultaneous measurements of the mean radial Doppler velocities were used to derive estimates of the ionospheric electron drift velocity. The data were analyzed to determine the spectral dependence on the magnitude and direction of the electron drift velocity. The two spectral types, characterized as “narrow” and “broad,” were observed simultaneously from the same scattering volume. The width of the broad spectrum (up to about 1200 Hz) can be at least 3 times …