Abstract
Abstract. The relationship between the orientation of the small-scale ionospheric irregularity anisotropy in a plane perpendicular to the geomagnetic field and the direction of plasma convection in the F region is investigated. The cross-field anisotropy of irregularities is obtained by fitting theoretical expectations for the amplitude scintillations of satellite radio signals to the actual measurements. Information on plasma convection was provided by the SuperDARN HF radars. Joint satellite/radar observations in both the auroral zone and the polar cap are considered. It is shown that the irregularity cross-field anisotropy agrees quite well with the direction of plasma convection with the best agreement for events with quasi-stationary convection patterns.
Highlights
The high-latitude ionosphere is an inhomogeneous media in which the quasi-layered distribution of electron density with height changes horizontally, with spatial scales from hundreds to tens of kilometers
In this study we further investigated the relationship between the orientation of the irregularity cross-field anisotropy and the plasma convection direction in the high-latitude ionosphere
The ionospheric plasma convection measurements were performed with the SuperDARN HF radars
Summary
The high-latitude ionosphere is an inhomogeneous media in which the quasi-layered distribution of electron density with height changes horizontally, with spatial scales from hundreds to tens of kilometers. Tereshchenko et al (1999) developed a new method of satellite signals analysis that allows one to infer such important characteristics of the ionospheric anisotropic irregularities as the degree of their stretching along and perpendicular to the geomagnetic field and the orientation of the cross-field anisotropy. Tereshchenko et al (2000a) applied the original method to the analysis of auroral zone irregularities and, by comparing the inferred orientations of cross-field anisotropy with the direction of plasma convection, as measured by the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar, found their reasonable agreement. For satellite signals passing such a layer, the variance of the logarithm of the signal amplitude relative to the signal amplitude in the irregularity-free situation σχ is predicted theoretically and compared with measurements This parameter was selected for the comparison because it is very sensitive to an assumed shape of the irregularities, including the orientation of the cross-field anisotropy
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
