An overview on the study of the equatorial electrojet

In this work, a balance on the present status of the study of the equatorial electrojet is presented. Particular attention is paid to a better understanding of what one can expect from the worldwide cooperation for the International Equatorial Electrojet Year, (IEEY) regarding the theoretical and experimental aspects. It will be seen that our limited knowledge of this phenomenon is due to the impossibility of the existing observatories to provide data with satisfactory time and height resolutions for all parameters required to test the theoretical models. We also investigate the possibility that equatorial phenomena related with the electrojet may contribute to evaluate some of these parameters.Material digitalizado en SEDICI gracias a la colaboración de la Facultad de Ciencias Astronómicas y Geofísicas (UNLP).Asociación Argentina de Geofísicos y Geodesta

Elevated Electron Temperatures in the Auroral E Layer Measured With the Chatanika Radar

An extensive series of spectral measurements has been made in the auroral E region with the Chatanika incoherent scatter radar. Becasue of the small scale length for variations of electron density, temperatures, and ion-neutral collisions we used the operating mode with the best possible range resolution—9 km. About 5% of the time the data exhibited an unusual spectral shape that was most pronounced at 105 and 110 km. Instead of being almost Gaussian with only a small hint of two peaks, the spectra are much wider, with two well-developed peaks. After carefully considering the validity of the measurements and their interpretation, we conclude that the unusual spectra are due to greatly enhanced electron temperatures. At 110 km, the electron temperature may increase from 250 K to 800 K, while the ion temperature remains near 250 K. This enhancement of the electron temperature extends from 99 km to at least 116 km. We show that the temperature increase is too large to be accounted for by auroral particle precipitation, though it coincides in time with ion temperature enhancements at altitudes above 125 km. Because these latter enhancements are believed to be due to joule heating, we deduce that electric fields of 24-40 mV/m are present and that the electrons are moving through the ions and neutrals at speeds of 500-800 m/s. Despite these velocities, we find that joule heating of the electrons also cannot account for the elevated electron temperatures. Several consequences of the elevated electron temperatures are discussed. One is that the rate constants for molecular recombination are reduced. Another is that during periods of significant joule heating, the deduced electron density profile, when fully corrected for temperatures, has a significantly lower peak altitude and greater density than that deduced under the usual assumption of equal electron and ion temperatures. Since conductivities, currents, ionization rates, and differential energy spectra are dependent upon the density profile, care must be taken to account properly for the temperature effects when deriving these quantities

On the effects of the reactive terms in the Boltzmann equation

Abstract. The effects of the production and loss mechanisms that affect the Boltzmann equations are considered by the inclusion of a reactive term. The necessary elements to develop a proper form for this term are revised and the curent trends analyzed. Although no accurate theoretical treatment of the problem is possible due to the many body nature of it, important relations can be derived which, besides being representative of the quantitative aspects of the matter, are illustrative of the qualitative features of the phenomenon. The overall procedure is detailed in this revision.

On the effects of the reactive terms in the Boltzmann equation

The effects of the production and loss mechanisms that affect the Boltzmann equations are considered by the inclusion of a reactive term. The necessary elements to develop a proper form for this term are revised and the current trends analyzed. Although no accurate theoretical treatment of the problem is possible due to the many body nature of it, important relations can be derived which, besides being representative of the quantitative aspects of the matter, are illustrative of the qualitative features of the phenomenon. The overall procedure is detailed in this revision

Ionospheric Plasma Bubble Climatology Over Brazil Based on 22Years (1977-1998) of 630 nm Airglow Observations

The frequency of occurrence of the large-scale ionospheric plasma depletions, or plasma bubbles, over Cachoeira Paulista—CP (45°W, 33°S, 28°S dip), with solar activity, season, and geomagnetic activity, during the period of 1977–1998, is studied here based on 934 days of scanning photometers and imagers data of the atomic oxygen View the MathML source nocturnal airglow. The bubble occurrence for the entire period of study shows maximum rate of 86% in January and 11% in May. The seasonal pattern of the bubble occurrence shows up as broad a maximum and a minimum centered around summer and winter months, respectively. While during the high-solar activity the maximum extends from September to April, for the low-activity period it extends from October to March. The average sunspot number for the solar maximum (minimum) for the data of this work is 129.9 (33.1). Significant increase of bubble occurrence (by ∼80%) from low to high solar activity levels is found to occur in the present analysis only during the equinoctial months of March–April and September–October. The post-sunset plasma bubble occurrence over Cachoeira Paulista is found to decrease with increase of Kp that precedes the sunset by View the MathML source, suggesting the role of disturbance dynamo electric field to inhibit its development. Increase of Kp during sunset hours can increase the bubble occurrence as a possible effect of prompt penetration electric field. These results are presented and discussed in this paper

Thermospheric F-region TravellingDisturbances Detected at Low Latitude by an OI 630 nm Digital Imager System

Gravity wave effects in the nocturnal thermospheric F-region domain are seldom detected in the intertropical region by optical (airglow) techniques, especially during geomagnetically quiet times, in part because the low inclination of the magnetic field, as opposed to the case of the mid-latitude region, does not favor significant vertical excursions of ionospheric plasma in response to meridional winds. Such difficulty in detecting gravity wave signatures in the F-region by means of optical techniques tends to increase in the absence of geomagnetic storms because of the lack of strong forcing mechanisms necessary to generate high intensity gravity waves. The purpose of this work is to show that during the quiet day of 9 August 1999, the Terminator may have been a source region of wave-like disturbances in the nocturnal F-region at the low-latitude station Cachoeira Paulista (22°41\u27S; 45°00W, dip 30°). A digital all-sky OI 630nm imager system located at that station has shown propagating wave-like spatial structures in the airglow intensity near the Terminator. This observation supports a previous study on the evidence of the presence of gravity waves during the post-sunset period at the same location by means of a scanning photometer system (1997, Sobral, J. Atmos. Terr. Phys.59, 1611–1623). The absence of range-type spread-F as monitored by a local digisonde and the absence of radio wave scintillation as monitored by a local GPS receiver, excludes the hypothesis that the wave-like airglow structures are associated with the occurrence of the ionospheric plasma bubbles. Downwards motion of the iso-density real height contours at 22.0 ms−1 and 33.1 ms−1 are observed. The wave detection by the imager system is reported and discussed here