ISSN:
1420-9136
Keywords:
Interhemispheric coupling
;
ionosphere
;
plasmasphere
;
nighttime winter anomaly
;
thermal ion fluxes
;
numerical modelling
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Geosciences
,
Physics
Notes:
Abstract The nighttime winter anomaly (NWA) effect was observed during solar minimum conditions at the American sector by means of ionospheric electron content and vertical sounding measurements in Havana (Cuba). An effective interhemispheric transport of plasma is suggested to explain enhanced northern nighttime ionization during winter solstice. To elucidate this effect, an adequate physicalnumerical model of the coupled system ionosphere-plasmasphere is presented and applied to a corotating tube of plasma at L=1.5 in the American sector. The NWA can be explained by theoretically derived higher tube content during the December solstice and accordingly by more intense nighttime fluxes from the plasmasphere, compared to the June solstice.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00879821
