The role of nitric oxide in the electron density distribution of the E region as a function of solar zenith angle
Abstract
Study of the integrated ionospheric conductivities in the E region over Saint-Santin (45 deg N) shows for all seasons, systematic decreases in the afternoon, in comparison with their morning values for the same solar zenith angles. Measurements of the electron concentration at 110 km indicate that the decreases in integrated conductivities arise from electron density variations. As common photochemical models cannot provide for such reduction, variations of neutral atmospheric concentrations are considered. Among them the nitric oxide concentration is known to increase by 100 percent from the morning to the afternoon. It is shown that such an increase induces a reduction of about 10 percent of the electron concentration.
- Publication:
-
Academie des Sciences Paris Comptes Rendus Serie Sciences Mathematiques
- Pub Date:
- May 1981
- Bibcode:
- 1981CRASM.292.1195S
- Keywords:
-
- E Region;
- Ionospheric Electron Density;
- Nitric Oxide;
- Solar Position;
- Zenith;
- Aeronomy;
- Density Distribution;
- Ionospheric Conductivity;
- Geophysics