On the electrical structure of airglow depletion/height layer bands over Arecibo

Abstract

Using a combination of airglow images and incoherent scatter radar data, we have explored the electrical structure of the airglow depleted, height layer bands over a mid-latitude site. We find a reproducible electrical signature in both components of the electric field in all events studied. The most pronounced feature is a large northward/upward electric field in the heart of the structure. The latter is identical to the radially outward field reported for mid-latitude conjugate electric fields [Saito et al., 1995], found to trace the poleward edge of the equatorial anomaly. We favorably compare the Arecibo drift to a typical satellite event. These electric fields may reflect a nonlinear evolved state of the Perkins instability or some, as yet, unexplained coupling between atmospheric motion and the plasma embedded in it. We show here that the F-region Pedersen conductivity is much lower in these structures than outside and suggest that this is related to a polarization electric field inside the structure.