ALTAIR Radar Plasma Drifts and in situ Electric and Magnetic Field Measurements on Two Sounding Rockets and the C/NOFS Satellite in the Low Latitude Ionosphere at Sunset

We present ALTAIR incoherent scatter radar plasma drifts and in situ electric field, magnetic field, and plasma density measurements made simultaneously with probes on two sounding rockets and the C/NOFS satellite in the low latitude ionosphere in the vicinity of Kwajalein Atoll. The coincident data were gathered during sunset conditions prior to a spread-F event during the NASA EVEX Campaign. The sounding rocket apogees were 180 km and 330 km, while the C/NOFS altitude in this region was ~ 390 km. Electric field data from all three platforms display upwards vertical plasma drifts, while the zonal drifts change direction as a function of altitude and/or local time. The variable drifts provide evidence of a dynamic plasma environment which may contribute to the unstable conditions necessary for spread-F instabilities to form.