Estimates of spectral energy density applied to vertical profiles of the horizontal wind in the lower ionosphere

Abstract

There is interest, aroused particularly by Hines [1963], in the partition of the total energy among the spatial and temporal scales of motion that occur in the neutral winds in the lower ionosphere. In an effort to obtain a measure of the partition of energy among the spatial scales, estimates of spectral energy density in vertical profiles of the horizontal wind (U) have been made. The energy of the wind is ρU2, and ρ varies strongly with altitude. Because of this, the estimates of spectral density were made in ρ1/2U rather than U.