Sporadic E at cusp latitudes

This is a study of the sporadic E (Es) that is observed over a ‘cusp latitude’ station, Cambridge Bay (77° CGM lat.). Es is extremely common in late evening hours at this location, reaching ∼80% occurrence rate in some months. The Es appears to form near the time when the convection reversal passes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of atmospheric and solar-terrestrial physics Vol. 67; no. 15; pp. 1419 - 1426
Main Authors MacDougall, John W., Jayachandran, P.T.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Oxford Elsevier Ltd 01.10.2005
Elsevier
Subjects
Cusp
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Ionosphere
Physics of the high neutral atmosphere
Physics of the ionosphere
Physics of the magnetosphere
Polar cap
Sporadic E
Polar cap
Sporadic E
Ionosphere
Cusp
electrical field
convection
Polar Cap
Ionization
ionosphere
Formation mechanism
Sporadic E: Cusp
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Summary:This is a study of the sporadic E (Es) that is observed over a ‘cusp latitude’ station, Cambridge Bay (77° CGM lat.). Es is extremely common in late evening hours at this location, reaching ∼80% occurrence rate in some months. The Es appears to form near the time when the convection reversal passes over the station. We explain our observations by a two-step formation mechanism involving horizontal convergence of ionization by the electric fields of the afternoon convection reversal, and then vertical convergence of this ionization by the electric fields in the polar cap. We show that several properties of the Es are consistent with this two-step mechanism.
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ISSN:1364-6826
1879-1824
DOI:10.1016/j.jastp.2005.07.011