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Ann. Geophys., 24, 1257-1266, 2006
www.ann-geophys.net/24/1257/2006/
© European Geosciences Union 2006
Sporadic sodium and E layers observed during the summer 2002 MaCWAVE/MIDAS rocket campaign
B. P. Williams1, C. L. Croskey2, C. Y. She3, J. D. Mitchell2, and R. A. Goldberg4
1Northwest Research Associates, Colorado Research Associates division, Boulder, CO, USA
2Communications and Space Sciences Laboratory, Electrical Engineering Department, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania, USA
3Department of Physics, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA
4NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, Laboratory for Solar and Space Physics, Greenbelt, MD, USA
Abstract. On 5 July 2002, a MaCWAVE (Mountain and Convective
Waves Ascending VErtically) payload launched from
Andøya Rocket Range, Norway, observed narrow enhanced layers of electron
density that were nearly coincident with sporadic sodium layers measured by
the Weber sodium lidar at the nearby ALOMAR Observatory. We investigate the
formation mechanism of these layers using the neutral wind and temperature
profiles measured directly by the lidar and the vertical motion deduced from
the sodium mixing ratio. Through comparisons of the lidar data to the
sporadic E in situ data, we find support for the concentration and downward
motion of ions to an altitude where chemical models predict the rapid
conversion of sodium ions to neutral sodium.
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