Abstract
The location of the dayside Venus ionopause, as observed by the Pioneer Venus Orbiter, is shown to depend on the magnetic pressure in the shocked, highly compressed solar wind plasma just outside the ionopause. Assuming a balance exclusively between this external magnetic pressure and internal ionospheric thermal pressure, invariance of ionospheric conditions, and an isothermal ionosphere, it is possible to determine pressure scale heights for various solar zenith angle intervals. These scale heights yield ionospheric temperatures which agree with direct measurements obtained independently. Not surprisingly, the average ionopause altitude is higher near the terminator, where the average external magnetic pressure is lower. The near‐terminator ionopause has much greater positional variability than that at lower solar zenith angles; this appears to be due principally to concomitant variations in the external magnetic pressure, presumably related to solar wind pressure changes.
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
