Sequential observations of the local neutral wind field structure associated with E region plasma layers

Abstract

The first sequential rocket experiment to study intermediate layers in over 30 years was launched from Wallops Island, Virginia on the night of 29–30 June 2003. Using an onsite digisonde to determine the presence of sporadic E and conditions indicating the possible presence of an intermediate layer, four rockets were launched over a 4‐hour period. Three of the rockets launched with at least an hour separation; they each contained chemical release experiments and plasma impedance probes. All four payloads encountered two plasma layers on both the ascent and descent of the flights. The lower‐altitude layer, located at approximately 100 km, is clearly a sporadic E layer. The higher‐altitude layer, located between 120 and 130 km, displays many characteristics of an intermediate layer, but it exhibits little downward motion over time. The neutral wind profiles resulting from the chemical tracer experiment are presented here along with the vertical drift velocities derived from the wind measurements. These are compared with the electron density profiles. They show a good agreement between the convergent regions in the velocity profiles and the location of the sporadic E layers. However, agreement between the center of the convergent vertical drift regions and the location of the higher‐altitude layer is poor. The inclusion in the drift calculation of electric field data from the instrumented rocket significantly improves the overall agreement between the convergent vertical drift region center and the intermediate layer center. The convergent region is within 4 km of the intermediate layer. Further, the density depletions surrounding the layers coincide with the regions of divergent drift. The relatively large discrepancy observed between the shear in the vertical drift and the location of the intermediate layer implies that other factors such as horizontal motion structure variations may be important. Thus intermediate layer formation theory and subsequent evolution is still not fully understood.