Title
Simultaneous 6300 Å airglow and radar observations of ionospheric irregularities and dynamics at the geomagnetic equator
Date Issued
22 March 2018
Access level
open access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Jicamarca Radio Observatory
Publisher(s)
Copernicus GmbH
Abstract
In March 2014 an all-sky imager (ASI) was installed at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (11.95° S, 76.87° W; 0.3° S MLAT). We present results of equatorial spread F (ESF) characteristics observed at Jicamarca and at low latitudes. Optical 6300 and 7774 Å airglow observations from the Jicamarca ASI are compared with other collocated instruments and with ASIs at El Leoncito, Argentina (31.8° S, 69.3° W; 19.8° S MLAT), and Villa de Leyva, Colombia (5.6° N, 73.52° W; 16.4° N MLAT). We use Jicamarca radar data, in incoherent and coherent modes, to obtain plasma parameters and detect echoes from irregularities. We find that ESF depletions tend to appear in groups with a group-to-group separation around 400-500 km and within-group separation around 50-100 km. We combine data from the three ASIs to investigate the conditions at Jicamarca that could lead to the development of high-altitude, or topside, plumes. We compare zonal winds, obtained from a Fabry-Pérot interferometer, with plasma drifts inferred from the zonal motion of plasma depletions. In addition to the ESF studies we also investigate the midnight temperature maximum and its effects at higher latitudes, visible as a brightness wave at El Leoncito. The ASI at Jicamarca along with collocated and low-latitude instruments provide a clear two-dimensional view of spatial and temporal evolution of ionospheric phenomena at equatorial and low latitudes that helps to explain the dynamics and evolution of equatorial ionospheric/thermospheric processes.
Start page
473
End page
487
Volume
36
Issue
2
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Meteorología y ciencias atmosféricas
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85044307019
PubMed ID
Source
Annales Geophysicae
ISSN of the container
09927689
Sponsor(s)
Acknowledgements. This work was supported by NSF grant AGS-1123222, NSF grant CEDAR AGS-1552301, and ONR grant N00014-13-1-0323. JULIA measurements used in this study were made available by the Jicamarca Radio Observatory, a facility of the Instituto Geofisico del Peru operated with support from the NSF AGS-1433968 through Cornell University.
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