Atmospheric winds between 100 and 700 km and their effects on the ionosphere
Abstract
The global wind system produced at different local times by pressure gradients in the upper atmosphere is calculated using data from Jacchia's model atmosphere. The horizontal wind velocities vary with height, and are of the order of 100 m sec-1 at about 300 km; they depend on ion drag, viscosity and Coriolis forces, but the major importance of ion drag as a force determining the form of the atmospheric wind system is demonstrated. The various limitations of, and approximations made in, the present calculations are discussed in detail. The global atmospheric wind system produces important vertical ionospheric drifts, and it is suggested that these may readily explain many anomalous ionospheric observations including the midday bite-out, some features of the maintenance of the night-time ionosphere, and the universal time effects observed in the high-latitude ionosphere. It is also suggested that various neutral atmosphere phenomena, such as the observed eastward rotation of the atmosphere, may also be a consequence of the wind system.
- Publication:
-
Journal of Atmospheric and Terrestrial Physics
- Pub Date:
- September 1967
- DOI:
- 10.1016/0021-9169(67)90139-0
- Bibcode:
- 1967JATP...29.1045K