Plasma Density Irregularities in the High-Latitude Top Side Ionosphere.

摘要

Thermal plasma density measurements obtained by using the spherical electrostatic analyzer probe carried by the polar orbiting satellite Isis I have been spectrally analyzed to provide quantitative results on the amplitude and scale size distribution of the plasma irregularities in the high-latitude top side inosphere. The range of scale sizes examined, 200 m to over 100 km under normal conditions, is more than an order of magnitude greater than that available from ground-based measurements. Data in the altitude range 574-3523 km and from the period February 1969 to April 1972 have been analyzed.