Topside Plasma Flows in the Equatorial Ionosphere and their
Relationships to F-Region Winds near 250 km
Abstract
Simultaneous measurements of F-region neutral winds near 250 km and
topside interhemispheric plasma flow near 600 km, made by the ICON
satellite, allow the connection between these parameters to be
observationally established for the first time. The largest variations
in the topside plasma flows are seen as a function of season and are
shown to depend on trans-equatorial neutral winds below the F peak in a
manner that is essentially the same during the daytime and the nighttime
for the solar minimum conditions that prevail in 2020. This finding is
consistent with established principles of a servo model of the
ionosphere for which both production and loss rates in the topside are
specified by the O/N2 ratio at the F-peak height. The
intermediate relationships, describing how the neutral wind influences
the F-peak height and how the O+ plasma pressure
gradient across the equator influences the interhemispheric plasma flow
are also investigated and found to be consistent with expectations.