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Interferometric phase velocity measurements in the auroral electrojetA double-probe electric field detector and two spatially separated fixed-bias Langmuir probes were flown on a Taurus-Tomahawk sounding rocket launched from Poker Flat Research Range in March 1982. Interesting wave data have been obtained from about 10s of the downleg portion of the flight during which the rocket passed through the auroral electrojet. Here the electric field receiver and both density fluctuation (delta-n/n) receivers responded to a broad band of turbulence centered at 105 km-altitude and at frequencies generally below 4 kHz. Closer examination of the two delta-n/n turbulent waveforms reveals that they are correlated; from the phase difference between the two signals, the phase velocity of the waves in the rocket reference frame is inferred. The magnitude and direction of the observed phase velocity are consistent either with waves which travel at the ion sound speed or with waves which travel at the electron drift velocity. The observed phase velocity varies by about 50 percent over a 5 km altitude range, an effect which probably results from shear in the zonal neutral wind, although, unfortunately, no simultaneous neutral wind measurements exist to confirm this.
Document ID
19870041662
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Labelle, J.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Kintner, P. M.
(Cornell Univ. Ithaca, NY, United States)
Kelley, M. C.
(Cornell University Ithaca, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 13, 2013
Publication Date
December 1, 1986
Publication Information
Publication: Planetary and Space Science
Volume: 34
ISSN: 0032-0633
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
87A28936
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-601
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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