Small-scale ionospheric structures associated with mid-latitude spread- F

Abstract

Slant- F traces on ionograms recorded by a modern ionosonde in a sunspot-minimum period have revealed the existence of field-aligned irregularities at times of spread- F occurrence. This appears to be the first investigation in a mid-latitude region around 36° (geomagnetic) to detect these irregularities at F 2-region heights using an ionosonde. Although such traces were observed frequently near sunspot minimum they were seldom recorded for periods close to sunspot maximum. Also, for a specific spread- F event in August 1989, both the ionograms from the modern ionosonde and scintillations of 150 MHz transmissions from a Transit satellite indicate the existence in the ionosphere of periodic structures (period around 11 min). The scintillation recording also included rapidly fading signals indicative of small-scale structures. The satellite had a path close to the magnetic meridian which passed through the recording station (Brisbane, Australia). Because of the enhanced signal fluctuations in the scintillation recording on this occasion it seems likely (with the support of other evidence on the ionograms) that the small-scale structures present were field-aligned.