The Ekman layer in the upper atmosphere

A model of internal boundary layers in the upper atmosphere shows that the anisotropy of inductive drag produces a distortion in the Ekman wind-velocity field at critical heights. Hence, singularities are generated in the wind-velocity field in the Ekman layer at heights of 200-400 km in the midlatitude atmosphere and at heights of 100-200 km in the low-latitiude atmosphere. The singularities disappear at the pole and in isotropically conducting media, and are completely absent in the purely neutral atmosphere and in the lower atmosphere. The formulas obtained, accounting for the conductivity anisotropy of the upper atmosphere, agree with experimental observations.