HR: 0830h
AN: SM51C-0538 [PDF]
TI: LONGITUDINAL, SEASONAL, AND SOLAR ACTIVITY VARIATIONS OF THE ELECTRON TEMPERATURE AND DENSITY IN THE
LOW-LATITUDE TOPSIDE IONOSPHERE OBSERVED BY KOMPSAT-1
AU: * Kim, H
EM: woodcar@space.kaist.ac.kr
AF: KAIST, 373-1 Gusong-dong, Yusong-gu, Daejon, 305-701
Korea, Republic of
AU: Min, K
EM: kwmin@space.kaist.ac.kr
AF: KAIST, 373-1 Gusong-dong, Yusong-gu, Daejon, 305-701
Korea, Republic of
AU: Park, J
EM: jhpark@space.kaist.ac.kr
AF: KAIST, 373-1 Gusong-dong, Yusong-gu, Daejon, 305-701
Korea, Republic of
AU: Lee, J
EM: jjlee@space.kaist.ac.kr
AF: KAIST, 373-1 Gusong-dong, Yusong-gu, Daejon, 305-701
Korea, Republic of
AU: Lee, E
EM: eslee@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Science Lab. at Berkeley, 7 Gauss way, Berkeley, CA 94720, Berkely, 94720-7450 United States
AB:
We present the results of the electron density and temperature measurements of the topside ionosphere made by KOMPSAT-1 from
June 28, 2000 to August 1. KOMPSAT-1 is a sun-synchronous satellite with the altitude 685 km, orbital inclination 98o, and a
descending node at 22:50LT. We have examined only the nighttime ionosphere and analyzed the longitudinal and solar activity
variations for the low- and mid-latitude regions between 60o N and 60o S geomagnetic latitude. The results show a rather
strong longitudinal and seasonal variation in the electron density and temperature. Latitudinal distributions of the electron
density and temperature are nearly symmetric about the dip equator during the equinoctial times while the local maximum of
the density and the local minimum of the temperature shift toward the summer hemisphere during solstices. We believe these
variations are due to the influences of the meridional winds from the summer hemisphere toward the winter hemisphere. The
associated upward and downward drifts along the magnetic field lines are verified by the DMSP ion drift data and the
fractional composition of O+ also supports the idea. It is seen that the density and temperature generally increase with
F10.7 but they remain more or less the same for F10.7 above 250.
DE: 2400 IONOSPHERE
DE: 2415 Equatorial ionosphere
DE: 2443 Midlatitude ionosphere
DE: 6026 Ionospheres--composition and chemistry
DE: 6027 Ionospheres--evolution
SC: SPA - Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2003 Fall Meeting