ALTAIR incoherent scatter observations of the equatorial daytime ionosphere

Abstract

The first high‐resolution electron density maps of the low‐latitude D‐ and E‐region ionosphere in the Pacific sector acquired with ALTAIR UHF measurements are presented. The electron density data were collected in connection with a rocket based common volume experiment described by Friedrich et al. (2006). The observed phenomena in the density maps include E‐region density layers of tidal origin, shorter lived layers with small vertical scales, and lower E‐region electron density enhancement in response to enhanced X‐ray flux.