Ocean and Polar Research

Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology (한국해양과학기술원)
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Characteristics of the Polar Ionosphere Based on the Chatanika and Sondrestrom Incoherent Scatter Radars

  • Kwak, Young-Sil (Department of Astronomy and Atmospheric Science, Kyungpook National University) ;
  • Ahn, Byung-Ho (Department of Earth Science, Kyungpook National University)
  • Published : 2004.09.30
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Abstract

The climatological characteristics of the polar ionospheric currents obtained from the simultaneous observations of the ionospheric electric field and conductivity are examined. For this purpose, 43 and 109 days of measurements from the Chatanika and Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radars are utilized respectively. The ionospheric current density is compared with the corresponding ground magnetic disturbance. Several interesting characteristics about the polar ionosphere are apparent from this study: (1) The sun determines largely the conductance over the Sondrestrom radar, while the nighttime conductance distribution over the Chatanika radar is significantly affected by auroral precipitation. (2) The regions of the maximum N-S electric field over the Chatanika radar are located approximately at the dawn and dusk sectors, while they tend to shift towards dayside over the Sondrestrom radar. The N-S component over Son-drestrom is slightly stronger than Chatanika. However, the E-W component over Chatanika is negligible compared to that of Sondrestrom. (3) The E-W ionospheric current flows dominantly in the night hemisphere over Chatanika, while it flows in the sunlit hemisphere over Sondrestrom. The N-S current over Chatanika flows prominently in the dawn and dusk sectors, while a strong southward current flows in the prenoon sector over Sondrestrom. (4) The assumption of infinite sheet current approximation is far from realistic, underestimating the current density by a factor of 2 or more. It is particularly serious for the higher latitude region. (5) The correlation between ${\Delta}H\;and\;J_E$ is higher than the one between ${\Delta}D\;and\;J_N$, indicating that field-aligned current affects ${\Delta}D$significantly.

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References

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