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First in-situ observations of neutral and plasma density fluctuations within a PMSE layerThe NLC-91 rocket and radar campaign provided the first opportunity for high resolution neutral and plasma turbulence measurements with simultaneous observations of PMSE (Polar Mesospheric Summer Echoes). During the flight of the TURBO payload on August 1, 1991, Cornell University Portable Radar Interferometer (CUPRI) and European Incoherent Scattter facility (EISCAT) observed double PMSE layers located at 86 and 88 km altitude, respectively. Strong neutral density fluctuations were observed in the upper layer but not in the lower layer. The fluctuation spectra of the ions and neutrals within the upper layer are consistent with standard turbulence theories. However, we show that there is no neutral turbulence present in the lower layer and that something else must have been operating here to create the plasma fluctuations and hence the radar echoes. Although the in situ measurements of the electron density fluctuations are much stronger in the lower layer, the higher absolute electron density of the upper layer more than compensated for the weaker fluctuations yielding comparable radar echo powers.
Document ID
19950047874
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Lubken, Franz-Josef
(Bonn Univ. Bonn, Germany)
Lehmacher, Gerald
(Bonn Univ. Bonn, Germany)
Blix, Tom
(Norwegian Defense Research Establishment Kjeller, Norway)
Hoppe, Ulf-Peter
(Norwegian Defense Research Establishment Kjeller, Norway)
Thrane, Eivind
(Norwegian Defense Research Establishment Kjeller, Norway)
Cho, John
(Cornell Univ. Ithada, NY, United States)
Swartz, Wesley
(Cornell Univ. Ithada, NY, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
October 22, 1993
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 20
Issue: 20
ISSN: 0094-8276
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
95A79473
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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