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Normal and abnormal E ‐region electron density profiles at a midlatitude station
Author(s) -
Taylor G. N.
Publication year - 1974
Publication title -
radio science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.371
H-Index - 84
eISSN - 1944-799X
pISSN - 0048-6604
DOI - 10.1029/rs009i002p00167
Subject(s) - incoherent scatter , electron density , middle latitudes , solar eclipse , f region , ionosphere , solar flare , atmospheric sciences , physics , millstone hill , astrophysics , sporadic e propagation , electron , geology , computational physics , geophysics , astronomy , quantum mechanics
The problems of measuring reliable E ‐region electron density vs. height profiles with a vertically pointing, pulsed incoherent scatter radar are discussed, and profiles from heights of 90 km upward observed at Malvern are presented. The minimum above h max E is more pronounced in winter than in summer, and the overall average density in the minimum is 92% of N max E . From the observational point of view, profiles showing an unresolved sporadic‐ E layer seem merely to be an extreme case of the normal type. Many layers are present in the E region at night; the behavior of these is erratic except for the principal layer centered just below 100 km, which may be meteoritic in origin. Incoherent scatter offers a new method of investigating the effects of solar flares in the 100 to 130 km range; observations taken during a flare, and also during a partial solar eclipse and on a magnetically disturbed day, are described.