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Electric

Bela G. Fejer

1987

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Electric Field And Plasmadensity Measurements In The Strongly-Driven Daytime Equatorial Electrojet: 1. The Unstablelayer And Gradient Drift Waves, R. F. Pfaff, M. C. Kelley, E. Kudeki, Bela G. Fejer, K. D. Baker Dec 1987

Electric Field And Plasmadensity Measurements In The Strongly-Driven Daytime Equatorial Electrojet: 1. The Unstablelayer And Gradient Drift Waves, R. F. Pfaff, M. C. Kelley, E. Kudeki, Bela G. Fejer, K. D. Baker

Bela G. Fejer

Electric field and plasma density instrumentation on board a sounding rocket launched from Punta Lobos, Peru, detected intense electrostatic waves indicative of plasma instabilities in the daytime equatorial electrojet. Simultaneous measurements taken by the Jicamarca radar showed strong 3-m type 1 electrojet echoes as well as evidence of kilometer scale horizontally propagating waves. The in situ electric field wave spectra displayed three markedly different height regions within the unstable layer: (1) a two-stream region on the topside between 103 and 111 km where the electron current was considered to be strongest, (2) a gradient drift region between 90 and 106.5 …


Electric Field And Plasmadensity Measurements In The Strongly-Driven Daytime Equatorial Electrojet: 2. Two-Streamwaves, R. F. Pfaff, M. C. Kelley, E. Kudeki, Bela G. Fejer, K. D. Baker Dec 1987

Electric Field And Plasmadensity Measurements In The Strongly-Driven Daytime Equatorial Electrojet: 2. Two-Streamwaves, R. F. Pfaff, M. C. Kelley, E. Kudeki, Bela G. Fejer, K. D. Baker

Bela G. Fejer

Both primary and secondary two-stream (Farley-Buneman) waves have been detected by in situ electric field and plasma density probes in the strongly driven daytime equatorial electrojet over Peru. Simultaneous Jicamarca radar observations showed strong vertical and oblique 3-m type 1 echoes, also indicative of the two-stream mechanism. The rocket data show the two-stream region on the topside of the unstable layer to be situated between 103 and 111 km where the electron current was the strongest. This region was characterized by broadband plasma oscillations extending past 1 kHz in the rocket frame. Furthermore, above 106.5 km, where the electron density …