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Rocket probe observations of electric field irregularities in the polar summer mesosphere
Author(s) -
Pfaff R.,
Holzworth R.,
Goldberg R.,
Freudenreich H.,
Voss H.,
Croskey C.,
Mitchell J.,
Gumbel J.,
Bounds S.,
Singer W.,
Latteck R.
Publication year - 2001
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 - 10.1029/2000gl012677
Subject(s) - sounding rocket , mesosphere , electric field , polar , atmospheric sciences , thermosphere , physics , depth sounding , amplitude , ionosphere , geophysics , geology , optics , stratosphere , astronomy , oceanography , quantum mechanics
Electric field wave measurements gathered on a sounding rocket flown in the presence of polar mesospheric summer echoes reveal a distinct layer of irregularities between 83–86 km with broadband amplitudes of > 10 mV/m rms. The waves are characterized by bursty, spiky waveforms with lower frequencies (∼ 10 Hz) dominant in the upper portion of the layer near 85 km and broader band emissions, extending to higher frequencies (∼ 1000 Hz) dominant in the lower portion of the layer near 83.5 km. The lower altitudes correspond to a region of weak optical emissions associated with a noctilucent cloud. The waves appear in and around regions where charged/neutral aerosols (1–10 nm) and large electron density depletions were observed. The irregularities likely result from a variety of processes including space charge inhomogeneities, mixed neutral and plasma motions, and complex effects associated with charged aerosols of varying sizes.

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