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Enhanced velocities and a shear in daytime E sq over Kwajalein and their relationship to 150 km echoes over the dip equator
Author(s) -
Tsunoda Roland T.
Publication year - 1994
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 - 10.1029/94gl02507
Subject(s) - daytime , equator , low latitude , radar , latitude , geology , ionosphere , polarization (electrochemistry) , magnetic dip , electric field , altitude (triangle) , f region , middle latitudes , geophysics , field line , atmospheric sciences , geodesy , magnetic field , physics , telecommunications , chemistry , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics , computer science
We present the first evidence of enhanced irregularity‐drift velocities and a velocity shear in the daytime E region at 4.3°N dip latitude. These features, found in radar measurements from Kwajalein during q ‐type sporadic E ( E sq ) events, are interpreted in terms of a polarization electric field that develops in response to the presence of latitudinal gradients in field‐line‐integrated conductivity caused by sporadic‐ E layers. Because the E region over Kwajalein connects directly to 150‐km altitude over the magnetic dip equator, we suggest that a similar polarization process is responsible for the so‐called 150‐km echoes that have been observed routinely by the Jicamarca radar.