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Ion Composition Of The Topside Equatorial Ionosphere During Solar Minimum, S. A. Gonzales, Bela G. Fejer, R. A. Heelis, W. B. Hanson
Ion Composition Of The Topside Equatorial Ionosphere During Solar Minimum, S. A. Gonzales, Bela G. Fejer, R. A. Heelis, W. B. Hanson
Bela G. Fejer
We have used observations from both the Bennett ion mass spectrometer and the retarding potential analyzer on board the Atmosphere Explorer E satellite to study the longitudinally averaged O+, H+, and He+ concentrations from 150 to 1100 km in the equatorial ionosphere during the 1975–1976 solar minimum. Our results suggest that the ion mass spectrometer measurements need to be increased by a factor of 2.15 to agree with the densities from the retarding potential analyzer and with ground-based measurements. The peak H+ concentrations are about 2.5×104 cm−3 during the day and 104 cm−3 at night and vary little with season. …