Possible Evidence of Gravity Wave Coupling into the Mid-latitude F Region Ionosphere During the SEEK Campaign

Authors

Michael J. Taylor, Utah State UniversityFollow
J. M. Jahn
S. Fukao
A. Saito

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Geophysical Research Letters

Volume

25

Issue

11

Publisher

American Geophysical Union

Publication Date

6-1998

First Page

1801

Last Page

1804

Abstract

On five of eight observation nights during the 1996 SEEK (Sporadic E Experiment over Kyushu) campaign, Japan, unusual “wave‐like” structures were imaged in the 630 nm thermospheric nightglow emission. Four of these events were observed to travel towards the southwest, providing new evidence in support of recent theories describing the coupling of medium‐scale gravity waves into the mid‐latitude F region ionosphere. Available ionosonde data and the visual characteristics of the wave structures indicate no association with the occurrence of mid‐latitude spread F or F region upwellings. Instead, the data support the novel concept of feedback from the ionosphere into the gravity wave, via the Perkins instability, to enhance its visibility.

Comments

Published by the American Geophysical Union in Geophysical Research Letters.

http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/1998/97GL03448.shtml

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Recommended Citation

Taylor, M.J., J-M. Jahn, S. Fukao, and A. Saito, Possible evidence of gravity wave coupling into the mid-latitude F region ionosphere during the SEEK campaign, Geophys. Res. Lett., 25, 1801, 1998.