Ionospheric electrodynamics and irregularities: A review of contributions by U.S. scientists from 1979 to 1982

摘要

The past four years have seen important advances in our understanding of global ionospheric electrodynamics and of ionospheric irregularities. The accumulation of ionization drift measurements by radar and satellite have led to the development of quantitative global electric field models. Extensive ground‐ and satellite‐based magnetic field measurements have given improved information about electric currents. Quantitative models of high‐latitude ionospheric electrical conductivities have been produced. Theoretical modeling efforts have given us the capability of inferring unknown electrodynamic parameters from measured quantities on a global basis, and allow us to assess quantitatively the influence of ionospheric electric fields and currents on the ionospheric plasma and on the neutral atmosphere. Ionospheric irregularities have also been extensively studied by both experimental and theoretical means in recent years, but are treated only very briefly in this report, with the reader referred to more comprehensive review articles for further inform