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On the electrical structure of airglow depletion/Height layer bands over Arecibo
Author(s) -
Kelley Michael C.,
Makela Jonathan J.,
Saito Akinori,
Aponte Nestor,
Sulzer Michael,
González Sixto A.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2000gl000024
Subject(s) - airglow , electric field , geophysics , latitude , geology , physics , atmospheric sciences , geodesy , quantum mechanics
Using a combination of airglow images and incoherent scatter radar data, we have explored the electrical structure of the airglow depleted, height layer bands over a mid‐latitude site. We find a reproducible electrical signature in both components of the electric field in all events studied. The most pronounced feature is a large northward/upward electric field in the heart of the structure. The latter is identical to the radially outward field reported for mid‐latitude conjugate electric fields [ Saito et al. , 1995], found to trace the poleward edge of the equatorial anomaly. We favorably compare the Arecibo drift to a typical satellite event. These electric fields may reflect a nonlinear evolved state of the Perkins instability or some, as yet, unexplained coupling between atmospheric motion and the plasma embedded in it. We show here that the F ‐region Pedersen conductivity is much lower in these structures than outside and suggest that this is related to a polarization electric field inside the structure.