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In situ measurements of plasma drift velocity and enhanced NO + in the auroral electrojet by the Bennett Spectrometer on AE‐C
Author(s) -
Brinton Henry C.
Publication year - 1975
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/gl002i006p00243
Subject(s) - electrojet , drift velocity , plasma , ion , physics , electric field , flow velocity , convection , ionosphere , f region , spectrometer , magnetic field , atomic physics , atmospheric sciences , geophysics , flow (mathematics) , earth's magnetic field , meteorology , optics , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics , mechanics
Simultaneous measurements of ion composition and plasma drift velocity by the Bennett mass spectrometer on the Atmosphere Explorer‐C satellite reveal a direct correlation between enhancements in NO + concentration and ion drift velocity in the southern auroral oval. Low altitude (137 to 250km) data obtained between 1700 and 2400 hr magnetic local time on October 22, 1974 reveal a region of westward plasma flow at velocities up to 1.3km/s between 62° and 68° invariant latitude, with corresponding NO + enhancements of up to a factor of 20. A narrow region of reverse flow at ∼0.9km/s was also measured. These drift observations are consistent with convective flow patterns derived from electric field measurements, and their correlation with NO + appears to support the suggestion that NO + enhancements would be expected in regions of drift owing to the dependence on ion energy of the reaction O + + N 2 → NO + + N.