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DC polarization electric field, current density, and plasma density measurements in the daytime equatorial electrojet
Author(s) -
Pfaff Robert F.,
Acuña Mario H.,
Marionni Paul A.,
Trivedi Nalin B.
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1029/97gl01536
Subject(s) - daytime , equatorial electrojet , electrojet , electric field , physics , geophysics , ionosphere , current density , equator , plasma , electron density , atmospheric sciences , computational physics , magnetic field , earth's magnetic field , astronomy , latitude , quantum mechanics
Measurements of the vector DC electric field, current density, and plasma number density were gathered in the daytime equatorial electrojet on a sounding rocket launched from Alcântara, Brazil. The data set provides a self‐consistent picture of the electrodynamics of the daytime electrojet, permitting a detailed comparison of the altitude profiles of the vertical component of the DC electric field, E vert , the current density, J, and the plasma number density, N e . Good agreement in the upper electrojet region between both the magnitude and the profile of the plasma drifts, calculated independently from E vert /B and J zonal /qN e , demonstrates that the equatorial electrojet is a Hall current consisting of electron motion driven by a vertical DC electric field. The data support the basic Cowling conductivity ideas of electron flow at the dip equator within a narrow conducting layer in which the ions are at rest.