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Huang Cheryl

Institute:
Air Force Research Laboratory.
Hanscom AFB, MA 01731, United States

TIDAL STRUCTURES IN THE EQUATORIAL IONOSPHERE

Authors: 1C. Y. Huang, 2S. H. Delay, 1P. A. Roddy and 1E. Sutton 1 Space Vehicles Directorate, AFRL 2 Institute for Scientific Research, Boston College

Tidal structures have been noted at altitudes up to 840 km in both neutrals and ions. We present examples of simultaneous ion and neutral tidal structures obtained by the Plasma Langmuir Probe on C/NOFS and the SuperStar accelerometer on GRACE. Under the very quiet conditions during solar minimum, the tidal features are very distinct. Climatology of the tidal structures on C/NOFS is similar to that of planetary waves which are presumably the source of the high-altitude observations. The ion and neutral tidal structures are decoupled, however both exhibit a large density decrease on the nightside around 330 degrees longitude. We will discuss possible mechanisms for the creation of this structure.
equatorial ionosphere, tidal structures

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