The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data
The relationship between electric fields, height-integrated conductivities and electric currents in the high-latitude nightside electrojet region is known to be complex. The tristatic nature of the EISCAT UHF radar facility provides an excellent means of exploring this interrelationship as it enable...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2a651167f0c848e6858f558a8dbdc754 2023-05-15T16:04:31+02:00 The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data J. A. Davies M. Lester 1999-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-0043-3 https://doaj.org/article/2a651167f0c848e6858f558a8dbdc754 EN eng Copernicus Publications https://www.ann-geophys.net/17/43/1999/angeo-17-43-1999.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/0992-7689 https://doaj.org/toc/1432-0576 doi:10.1007/s00585-999-0043-3 0992-7689 1432-0576 https://doaj.org/article/2a651167f0c848e6858f558a8dbdc754 Annales Geophysicae, Vol 17, Pp 43-52 (1999) Science Q Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 article 1999 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-0043-3 2022-12-31T01:30:13Z The relationship between electric fields, height-integrated conductivities and electric currents in the high-latitude nightside electrojet region is known to be complex. The tristatic nature of the EISCAT UHF radar facility provides an excellent means of exploring this interrelationship as it enables simultaneous estimates to be made of the full electric field vector and the ionospheric Hall and Pedersen conductances, further allowing the determination of both field-perpendicular electric current components. Over 1300 h of common programme observations by the UHF radar system provide the basis of a statistical study of electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere, from which preliminary results are presented. Times at which there is significant solar contribution to the ionospheric conductances have been excluded by limiting the observations according to solar zenith angle. Initial results indicate that, in general, the times of peak conductance, identified from the entire set of EISCAT observations, do not correspond to the times of the largest electric field values; the relative contribution of ionospheric conductance and electric field to the electrojet currents therefore depends critically on local time, a conclusion which corroborates work by previous authors. Simultaneous measurements confirm a tendency for a decrease in both Hall and Pedersen conductances to be accompanied by an increase in the electric field, at least for moderate and large electric field value, a tendency which is also identified to some extent in the ratio of the conductances, which acts as an indicator of the energy of precipitating particles. Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents) Article in Journal/Newspaper EISCAT Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Pedersen ENVELOPE(140.013,140.013,-66.668,-66.668) Annales Geophysicae 17 1 43 52 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Science Q Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
spellingShingle |
Science Q Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 J. A. Davies M. Lester The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data |
topic_facet |
Science Q Physics QC1-999 Geophysics. Cosmic physics QC801-809 |
description |
The relationship between electric fields, height-integrated conductivities and electric currents in the high-latitude nightside electrojet region is known to be complex. The tristatic nature of the EISCAT UHF radar facility provides an excellent means of exploring this interrelationship as it enables simultaneous estimates to be made of the full electric field vector and the ionospheric Hall and Pedersen conductances, further allowing the determination of both field-perpendicular electric current components. Over 1300 h of common programme observations by the UHF radar system provide the basis of a statistical study of electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere, from which preliminary results are presented. Times at which there is significant solar contribution to the ionospheric conductances have been excluded by limiting the observations according to solar zenith angle. Initial results indicate that, in general, the times of peak conductance, identified from the entire set of EISCAT observations, do not correspond to the times of the largest electric field values; the relative contribution of ionospheric conductance and electric field to the electrojet currents therefore depends critically on local time, a conclusion which corroborates work by previous authors. Simultaneous measurements confirm a tendency for a decrease in both Hall and Pedersen conductances to be accompanied by an increase in the electric field, at least for moderate and large electric field value, a tendency which is also identified to some extent in the ratio of the conductances, which acts as an indicator of the energy of precipitating particles. Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents) |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
J. A. Davies M. Lester |
author_facet |
J. A. Davies M. Lester |
author_sort |
J. A. Davies |
title |
The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data |
title_short |
The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data |
title_full |
The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data |
title_fullStr |
The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data |
title_full_unstemmed |
The relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using EISCAT data |
title_sort |
relationship between electric fields, conductances and currents in the high-latitude ionosphere: a statistical study using eiscat data |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
1999 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-0043-3 https://doaj.org/article/2a651167f0c848e6858f558a8dbdc754 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(140.013,140.013,-66.668,-66.668) |
geographic |
Pedersen |
geographic_facet |
Pedersen |
genre |
EISCAT |
genre_facet |
EISCAT |
op_source |
Annales Geophysicae, Vol 17, Pp 43-52 (1999) |
op_relation |
https://www.ann-geophys.net/17/43/1999/angeo-17-43-1999.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/0992-7689 https://doaj.org/toc/1432-0576 doi:10.1007/s00585-999-0043-3 0992-7689 1432-0576 https://doaj.org/article/2a651167f0c848e6858f558a8dbdc754 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-0043-3 |
container_title |
Annales Geophysicae |
container_volume |
17 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
43 |
op_container_end_page |
52 |
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1766400106310926336 |