Abstract
Abstract. An ionosonde network consisting of a meridional chain and an equatorial pair was established in the Southeast Asian area. Three of four ionosondes are along the magnetic meridian of 100° E; two are close to the magnetic conjugate points in Northern Thailand and West Sumatra, Indonesia, and the other is near the magnetic equator in the Malay Peninsula, Thailand. The fourth ionosonde is also near the magnetic equator in Vietnam but separated by about 6.3° towards east from the meridional chain. For a preliminary data analysis, nighttime ionospheric height variations at the three stations of the meridional chain were examined. The results demonstrate that the coordination of the network has a great potential for studying ionosphere/thermosphere dynamics. Through the assistance of model calculations, thermospheric neutral winds were inferred and compared with the HWM93 empirical thermospheric wind model. Higher-order wind variations that are not represented in the empirical model were found.
Highlights
Two major parameters that specify the ionospheric status are the peak electron density (NmF2) and the height of the electron density peak
Compared with the complexity of the peak electron density, the variations in its height are straightforward in response to external forces, i.e., field perpendicular motions of the E×B drift due to zonal electric fields and field aligned motions induced by the drag of thermospheric neutral winds (Rishbeth et al, 1978; Titheridge, 1995; de Medeiros et al, 1997)
The equatorial and low latitude ionosphere exhibits unique dynamical features stemming from strong north-south coupling and strong thermospheric wind and zonal electric field effects
Summary
Two major parameters that specify the ionospheric status are the peak electron density (NmF2) and the height of the electron density peak (hmF2). Compared with the complexity of the peak electron density, the variations in its height are straightforward in response to external forces, i.e., field perpendicular motions of the E×B drift due to zonal electric fields and field aligned motions induced by the drag of thermospheric neutral winds (Rishbeth et al, 1978; Titheridge, 1995; de Medeiros et al, 1997).
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