&amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Letter to the Editor:&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt; First complementary observations by ionospheric tomography, the EISCAT Svalbard radar and the CUTLASS HF radar

C N Mitchell,I Kersley,I K Walker,S E Pryse,I W Mccrea,T B Jones

doi:10.1007/s00585-998-1519-2

Abstract

Abstract. Experimental results are presented from ionospheric tomography, the EISCAT Svalbard radar and the CUTLASS HF radar. Tomographic measurements on 10 October 1996, showing a narrow, field-aligned enhancement in electron density in the post-noon sector of the dayside auroral zone, are related to a temporal increase in the plasma concentration observed by the incoherent scatter radar in the region where the HF radar indicated a low velocity sunwards convection. The results demonstrate the complementary nature of these three instruments for polar-cap ionospheric studies.Key words. Ionosphere · Auroral ionosphere · Polar ionosphere · Radio science (ionospheric physics)

Highlights

In this paper first results are presented from observations of the dayside auroral ionosphere over Svalbard using three complementary experimental techniques: ionospheric tomography giving an image of the spatial structure of electron density; the EISCAT Svalbard radar (ESR) yielding the temporal development of electron concentration along a fixed line of sight and the CUTLASS HF radar giving information on the convection of the plasma
The tomographic image presented in this paper was reconstructed using the method described by Fremouw et al (1992), with modifications to use a range of Chapman profiles and to allow the incorporation of hmF2 and NmF2 values from the dynasonde located at Tromsø to improve the reconstruction of the vertical profile
The height of the F-layer peak is in general agreement with that found by ESR

Summary

Introduction

In this paper first results are presented from observations of the dayside auroral ionosphere over Svalbard using three complementary experimental techniques: ionospheric tomography giving an image of the spatial structure of electron density; the EISCAT Svalbard radar (ESR) yielding the temporal development of electron concentration along a fixed line of sight and the CUTLASS HF radar giving information on the convection of the plasma. Ionospheric tomography has been used extensively at mid-and auroral latitudes to produce images of electron density. Pryse et al (1997) demonstrated that it was possible to create tomographic images of the polar-cap ionosphere using just two closely-spaced receivers at Longyearbyen and Ny Ålesund.

Results

Conclusion