Stormtime Mid-latitude E Region Electric Field Variability as Inferred From Millstone Hill Coherent Scatter Observations

Details Stormtime Mid-latitude E Region Electric Field Variability as Inferred From Millstone Hill Coherent Scatter Observations Stormtime Mid-latitude E Region Electric Field Variability as Inferred From Millstone Hill Coherent Scatter Observations

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufmsa12b0687e&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #SA12B-0687

Other

2431 Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Interactions (2736), 2443 Midlatitude Ionosphere, 2463 Plasma Convection, 2471 Plasma Waves And Instabilities

Scientific paper

The sub-auroral electric field in the vicinity of the mid-latitude polarization jet and SAID (sub-auroral ion drift) can exhibit dramatic variability during times of moderate to high geomagnetic activity. In particular, the fine-scale structure of this field requires measurement techniques with high temporal and spatial resolution for full characterization. The Millstone Hill 440 MHz UHF radar is well positioned to observe the polarization jet, and is a sensitive diagnostic of electric field structures when operated in a coherent backscatter mode. In particular, due to the large Farley-Buneman irregularity backscatter cross-section and the linear relation between backscattered power and electric field amplitude at 34 cm wavelength, E region ionospheric electric field structures can be routinely resolved at the one-second and one-kilometer level, and such resolutions are necessary to accurately capture the dynamics of this region. We present Millstone Hill fixed position observations during a Kp = 6 disturbance on May 25, 2000 which illustrate several features of mid-latitude polarization jet electric fields. Over a field of view spanning 2 - 3 degrees geomagnetic latitude, we observe E region electric field configurations with magnitudes of ~50 mV/m and variations on timescales as short as 1-2 minutes. The structures move equatorwards with overall range rates of 150 - 200 m/s, but possess internal structures with nearly three times this apparent range rate. We use simultaneous DMSP satellite observations of westward ion drift across our experimental field of view to place the radar measurements in context, relate our measurements to other recent Millstone Hill coherent backscatter events, and discuss the implications of this very dynamic activity for models of subauroral ionospheric convection.

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