Electric fields in the equatorial ionosphere.

Artificial ion and neutral clouds were released at heights of 150 to 160 km using rockets launched from Thumba, India. The experiments were conducted at local dusk and the magnitude of electric field components and neutral wind velocities were deduced from the motion of the artificial clouds. Information about the electrojet system was obtained from an examination of the ratio of the vertical to the east-west components of the electric field. This ratio is much greater than that of the local Hall to Pedersen conductivities, and is closer in value to the ratio of the integrals of the Hall and Pedersen conductivities measured along the geomagnetic field lines. This confirms the equatorial electrojet model proposed by Untiedt (1967) according to which some currents flow perpendicular to the geomagnetic field lines