ALBERT

Description: Die Niederterrasse der mittleren Lahn ist in mindestens drei Aufschotterungsphasen zu gliedern, die dem Weichsel-Frühglazial, dem Weichsel-Pleniglazial und dem ausgehenden Weichsel-Spätglazial (Jüngere Dryas) zuzuordnen sind. Die Paläo-Rinnen im unteren Schotterkörper haben nach den palynologischen und karpologischen Untersuchungen ein brörupzeitliches Alter, wobei aber nicht die gesamte Vegetationsabfolge überliefert ist. Als Bindeglied zwischen dem nördlichen Mitteleuropa und dem Alpenvorland kommt den brörupzeitlichen Profilen aus dem Lahntal von Weimar-Niederweimar eine überregionale Bedeutung bei der Beurteilung des Paläoklimas zu. Pflanzensippen mit subozeanischer Verbreitungstendenz belegen, dass das Klima während des Brörup-Interstadials nicht extrem kontinental getönt war. Die Mittelgebirgszone bildete offenbar die nördliche Verbreitungsgrenze wärmeliebender Laubgehölze (Eiche, Ulme), wobei die Lange der Vegetationsperiode sowie die Niederschlagsverhältnisse mögliche Ursachen für eine Begrenzung der Ausbreitung nach Norden gewesen sein könnten.

Description: Sandige Proben aus den in der Forschungsbohrung Tüschenbek (Schleswig-Holstein) angetroffenen quartären Serien zeigen altersbedingte Unterschiede im Schwermineral-Gehalt: Von der Elsterzeitlichen zu jüngeren Serien nimmt der Gehalt an opaken und stabilen Mineralen ebenso wie der von Epidot ab, der von Hornblende dagegen zu. Eine Aufarbeitung von Tertiär-Sedimenten hat offenbar bei den Weichselzeitlichen Proben dazu geführt, dass der Gehalt an stabilen Mineralen etwas erhöht ist.

Description: Amarok, Tulugak und Ukalik sind kleine, ultra-oligotrophe Seen auf Baffin Island, kanadische Arktis, die im Frühholozän eine natürliche Schwermetallanreicherung aufweisen, welche mit der von rezenten, belasteten Sedimenten vergleichbar ist. Während der letzten Eiszeit waren diese Seen nicht von Gletschermassen bedeckt (Refugien), so dass die Seen und ihre Einzugsgebiete während der letzten 40 000 Jahre aktive Ökosysteme waren. Die paläoökologischen Bedingungen wechselten zwischen kalten Zeiten mit geringer Vegetationsbedeckung, geringer Bodenbildung, starker Erosion, allochthonen klastischen Sedimenten, geringer Produktivität und sauren pH-Werten und wärmeren Zeiten mit Zunahme von Vegetationsbedeckung und Bodenbildung, geringerer Erosion, autochthonen organischen Sedimenten, stärkerer Produktivität und höheren pH-Werten. Die Veränderungen des Paläo-pH werden vor allem durch hydrologische und biogeochemische Prozesse in den Seen selbst gesteuert, weniger durch die Basenbereitstellung aus den Einzugsgebieten. Eine effektive synsedimentäre Konzentration von Schwermetallen im organischen Anteil hat im Frühholozän dazu geführt, dass unter bestimmten hydrologischen und ökologischen Bedingungen natürlicherweise Konzentrationen von Schwermetallen auftreten, die z. T. weit über dem normalerweise anzutreffenden geogenen Hintergrund liegen.

Description: In dem in den französischen Nordalpen gelegenen und von der mittleren Isère durchflossenen Grésivaudan wurde pollenanalytisch „Unterhalb La Flachère" in rund 330 m Höhe eine durchlaufende, 10 m mächtige letztinterglazial- bis frühestweichselzeitliche fossilführende Feinsedimentsequenz nachgewiesen. Sie wird vom Eem (OIS 5e), dem St. Germain I und II (OIS 5c, 5a) sowie dem ältesten frühestweichselzeitlichen Kiefern Fichten-Interstadial (OIS 5a-4) gebildet. Erstmals fand sich hier der rein pollenanalytische Beweis, dass auch inneralpin in der collinen Stufe in allen letztinterglazialzeitlichen Warmphasen thermophile Baumarten vertreten sein können. Die Feinsedimentabfolge von Unterhalb La Flachère ist Bestandteil eines kompletten pleistozänen Sedimentationszyklus. Er reicht von der Saale- (= OIS 6) bis zur Weichselmoräne (OIS 2,4?) und verweist auf eine besonders mächtige Talverschüttung im Frühestweichsel (Übergangsbereich OIS 5a-4). Mittels der Methode der modernen Analoge, bei der die Klimarekonstruktion zu fossilen Pollenspektren durch den Vergleich mit rezenten Oberflächenspektren und den dazugehörenden klimatischen Daten erfolgt, wurden die pollenanalytischen Ergebnisse in Paläoklimawerte überführt.

Description: Die Untersuchung wird auf die humiden Mittelbreiten begrenzt, wo „Interglazial" durch die Rückwanderung temperierter Laubwälder definierbar ist. Auf die Frage, welche Bodentypen oder Horizonte sicher einem Interglazial zugeordnet werden können, gibt es keine eindeutige Antwort. Pedogenetische Betrachtungen und mikromorphologische Befunde führen aber zu einer Fallunterscheidung, die weitreichende Interpretationssicherheit gibt. Sichere Zeugen für eine interglaziäre Genese sind zunächst autochthone Bt-Horizonte aus kalkhaltigen, schluffreichen Substraten und mit Tonbelägen in Poren. Aber auch Bt-Horizonte aus allochthonem Bodenmaterial kalkhaltiger, schluffreicher Substrate und mit Tonbelägen oder deren Bruchstücken sind sichere Zeugen, wenn die Zeitspanne von Verwitterung. Lessivierung und Materialverlagerung zusammengefasst werden kann und keine Kaltzeit enthält. Bei anderen Bt-Horizonten ist die Zugehörigkeit zu einem Interglazial sehr zurückhaltend zu beurteilen. Es muss dann sichergestellt werden, dass die Entwicklungszeit nicht durch eine oder mehrere der folgenden Bedingungen so weit verkürzt worden ist, dass kein Interglazial notwendig wäre: 1. Armes Ausgangsmaterial mit geringer Menge verwitterbarer Minerale, 2. Dominanz von Sand und Kies, 3. Beimengung von vorverwittertem und insbesondere Bt-Material aus einem älteren Interglazial, 4. Durchgriff der Verwitterung und Lessivierung aus einem hangenden Boden, 5. Siedlungslage mit Asche-Einfluss.

Description: In der Osteifel wurde in den Deckschichten einer Kratermulde der Wannenköpfe-Vulkangruppe bei Ochtendung die Schädelkalotte eines Hominiden im Zusammenhang mit drei Steinartefakten gefunden. Aufgrund der anatomischen Merkmale werden die Hominidenreste als „spät"-prä-Neanderthalzeitlich interpretiert. Die geologischen, chronologischen und archäologischen Befunde sowie die anatomischen Merkmale der Schädelkalotte unterstützen die stratigraphische Einstufung in das Frühglazial der vorletzten Kaltzeit (frühes Sauerstoff-Isotopenstadium 6). Die Schädelkalotte stellt den bisher ältesten Fund von Hominiclenresten im Rheinland dar.

Description: In der Nordwestschweiz verlagern sich die räumlichen Schwerpunkte des Bevölkerungs- und Arbeitsplatzwachstums weg vom Agglomerationskern Basel ins Umland. Davon profitieren weniger die regionalen Subzentren, als die kleinen Gemeinden. Diese Suburbanisierungsvorgänge haben auch Auswirkungen auf die räumliche Zuordnung von Wohn- und Arbeitsstätten. Aus Sicht der Verkehrsvermeidung wäre die Mischung von Wohn- und Arbeitsstätten dann optimal, wenn ein möglichst ausgeglichenes Verhältnis von Erwerbspersonen und Arbeitsplätzen auf möglichst kleinräumiger Ebene vorliegt. Die Untersuchung für die Nordwestschweiz zeigt, dass sich zwischen 1991 und 1998 das Verhältnis von Erwerbspersonen und Arbeitsplätzen auf Ebene der Umlandgemeinden trotz Bevölkerungs- und Arbeitsplatzverlagerung aus der Kernstadt Basel per Saldo kaum verändert hat. Auf Bezirksebene geht die Suburbanisierung mit einem per Saldo ausgewogeneren Verhältnis von Erwerbspersonen und Arbeitsplätzen einher. Diese Zunahme der dezentralen Mischung von Arbeiten und Wohnen in der Fläche bietet Chancen für eine Reduzierung der Arbeitswege. Sie stellt jedoch für den öffentlichen Verkehr eine Herausforderung dar, wenn die bisher überwiegend auf Basel gerichteten Verkehrsströme zunehmend einem kleinräumigeren Wegemuster weichen sollen.

Description: «Angst-Räume« sind ein klassisches Thema bei Diskussionen über geschlechtsspezifische Raumnutzung in der Geographie und Stadtplanung. Während in bisherigen Studien «Geschlecht» weitgehend als unabhängige, erklärende Variable betrachtet wird, so steht in dieser Arbeit die Konstruktion der Geschlechterdifferenz im Zentrum der Analyse. Den theoretischen Überlegungen zu Raum und Geschlecht aus dekonstrukliver Perspektive folgen Auszüge aus Gesprächen mit Frauen, die als Joggerinnen die Münchner Isarauen – bei Dämmerung und Dunkelheit ein sogenannter «Angst-Raum» – nutzen. In diesen Gesprächen wird deutlich, wie mächtig sowohl der Angst-Diskurs als auch die geschlechtsspezifischen Zuordnungen sind, und mit welchen Strategien die Frauen versuchen, sich frei zu laufen.

Description: Die Studie beschreibt die Ergebnisse der Lehrplanreform im Fach Geographie, die in den letzten 10 Jahren in den Schweizer Gymnasien stattfand. Seit 1994 gibt es erstmals in der Geschichte der Maturitätsschulen einen für die ganze Schweiz verbindlichen Rahmenlehrplan für die Ausbildung auf der Sekundarstufe II. Die in ihm formulierten Bildungs- und Richtziele dienten als Grundlage für die Konzeption der kantonalen und schuleigenen Lehrpläne. Um herauszufinden, wie das Fach Geographie heute in den Schulen wahrgenommen wird, werden 26 Lehrpläne mit dem Rahmenlehrplan verglichen. Es hat sich herausgestellt, dass nur die Bildungs- und Richtziele von 13 Lehrplänen mit jenem im Rahmenlehrplan Geographie übereinstimmen. Dieser Befund kann nur auf dem Hintergrund der politischen Situation in der Bildungslandschaft der Schweiz verstanden werden. Trotzdem hat sich die Schulgeographie auf der Sekundarstufe II zu einem modernen Unterrichtsfach gewandelt, das nicht nur den Erwerb von Wissen, sondern auch von Fertigkeiten betont, gleichzeitig aber in vielen Fällen die affektiven Kompetenzen vernachlässigt.

Description: Veränderungen auf gesamtgesellschaftlicher Ebene und deren räumliche Folgen haben sich vor allem in den Kernstädten konzentriert und innerhalb dieser neue Tatgelegenheitsstrukturen geschaffen. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die räumliche und zeitliche Konzentration von Einbruch- und Raubdelikten im Kanton Basel-Stadt und setzt sie in Beziehung mit Prozessen der sozialen Desorganisation. Vor allem die City, aber auch Viertel mit hoher ethnischer Heterogenität sind negativ durch diese Prozesse beeinträchtigt und zeigen hohe Belastungen mit den untersuchten Delikten. Massnahmen zur Reduktion dieser Delikte müssen sich auf die Stärkung informeller sozialer Kontrolle und eine Dezentralisation des tertiären Sektors zur Entlastung der City konzentrieren.

Description: Dieser Artikel untersucht die aktuellen sozialen und planerischen Probleme infolge von Binnenwanderungen, speziell der starken Migration in die chinesischen Metropolen. Am Beispiel einer Stichprobenerhebung aus Peking gibt er einen Einblick in die Sozialstruktur der sogenannten floating population in der chinesischen Hauptstadt. Das Hauptinteresse gilt den Ursachen und Formen der städtischen Armut und Segregation. Diese werden im allgemeineren Zusammenhang der neuen Armut in den Städten auch anderenorts und im Zusammenhang mit neuen Strategien der Bevölkerungs-, Wirtschafts- und Stadtentwicklung in China gesehen. Es wird argumentiert, dass Peking und andere große Zentren Chinas den demographischen Veränderungen durch die gegenwärtigen sowie die zu erwartenden Zuwandererströme nicht gewachsen sind. Dies stellt auch eine Herausforderung an die Entscheidungsträger der Planung dar, ein neues Denken in der Stadt- und Regionalpolitik zu entwikkeln.

Description: Nach der Wiedervereinigung der beiden deutschen Staaten im Jahr 1990 wurde in den neuen Bundesländern der weitgehend verstaatlichte Grund und Boden in Privateigentum zurücküberführt. Da in der DDR eine Wiedergutmachung nationalsozialistischen Unrechts weitgehend ausgeblieben war, wurde die Restitutionsregelung auf die Eigentumsentziehungen bis 1933 ausgedehnt. Die wenig erforschte «Arisierung» des Grundeigentums während des Nationalsozialismus gewann damit an erneuter Aktualität. Die «Arisierung» als Teil der nationalsozialistischen Judenverfolgung bedeutete eine vollständige Verdrängung der Juden aus der Wirtschaft und damit auch aus dem Immobilienbereich. Das Ergebnis der «Arisierung» war «eine der grössten Besitzumschichtungen der Neuzeit». Ziel des Artikels ist es, einen Überblick über die rechtlichen Regelungen und den Ablauf der «Arisierung» des Grundeigentums zu geben und mit einer Fallstudie diesen Prozess für ein konkretes Quartier im Ostteil Berlins darzustellen.

Description: Die postkoloniale Kritik, die auf einem widersprüchlichen Denken in einem immer wieder anderen Zwischen-Raum basiert, zeichnet sich durch ein entschiedenes Interesse an der De- und Rekonstruktion geographischer Welt-Bilder aus. Dessen ungeachtet hat sich die deutschsprachige Geographie bisher kaum mit den postkolonialen Interventionen auseinandergesetzt. Das ist insofern bedauerlich, als sie viel dazu beitragen können, den geographischen Blick auf die «Ordnung der Dinge» zu bereichern. Vor diesem Hintergrund wird – in Einklang mit den dekonstruktiv-rekonstruktiven Bewegungen des Postkolonialismus und in Auseinandersetzung mit dem derzeit wohl wirkungsmächtigsten Welt-Bild – eine Praxis skizziert, die es erlaubt, immer wieder andere und bessere Welt- Bilder zu entwerfen. Diese Bilder verzichten ebenso auf den Anspruch, allgemeingültig zu sein, wie sie ohne die fixierende Verortung eines «Eigenen» und «Anderen» auskommen. Damit korrespondieren sie mit einem Denken, das dazu aufruft, gewohnte Denkschemata in Frage zu stellen und nicht zuletzt den eigenen Blick immer wieder aufs neue zu verunsichern.

Description: Le présent article se propose d'évoquer l'œuvre, fort peu connue de nos jours, du géographe neuchâtelois U Guinand qui, au XIXe siècle, a joui d'une certaine notoriété dans le domaine de l'éducation notamment. Adepte de C. Ritter, il se targuera d'être un pionnier relativement à la diffusion de ses idées en Suisse romande. Aprés avoir évoqué quelques éléments biographiques afférents à cet auteur, ce texte met en évidence certaines des idées-forces de C. Ritter et les prises de position d'U. Guinand qui s'y rapportent. Sont successivement évoqués l'abîme qui sépare la géographie de tradition française et celle d'obédience germanique, le rôle de la Providence dans l'organisation de la Terre, les rapports entre l'homme et cette dernière, la prise en compte des dimensions horizontale et verticale des entités spatiales, le triptyque géographique d'U. Guinand et, enfin, l'œuvre pédagogique de celui-ci.

Description: Raum und räumliche Beziehungen sind Konstrukte. Sicht-, Denk- und Interpretationsweisen wirken aus dem Hintergrund der aktuellen und historisch gewachsenen gesellschaftlichen Verhältnisse auf die Herstellung nicht zuletzt sprachlich konstruierter Wirklichkeiten ein. In diesem Beitrag werden die Grundzüge von Poststrukturalismus und Postmodernismus skizziert und das vorliegende Heft in seinem Stellenwert für die (Human-) Geographie begründet. Desweiteren wird in die einzelnen Beiträge des Heftes eingeführt.

Description: Les comportements de fécondité des communes des grandes agglomérations varient en fonction de la position géographique. L'exemple des 5 grandes villes suisses et des communes qui les entourent montre des caractéristiques clairement définies, quelle que soit l'agglomération étudiée: une fécondité plus faible dans le centre par rapport à la périphérie, mais en revanche des naissances qui surviennent plus tardivement et plus fréquemment hors mariage. Une discussion sur les facteurs à l'origine de ce schéma met en évidence les rôles respectifs de la mobilite résidentielle accompagnant les changements familiaux d'une part, des caractéristiques socio-économiques des différentes communes de la Suisse d'autre part, et enfin de l'adaptation plus ou moins rapide, en fonction du lieu de résidence, de nouvelles normes familiales. Cette étude se termine par l'observation des conséquences, sur l'évolution démographique et la planification locale, des disparités de fécondité au sein des agglomérations.

Description: Gärten sind, trotz ihrer wachsenden kulturellen Bedeutung ein wenig beachteter Gegenstand der Geographie. Als zu ihrer Erforschung geeignete theoretische Ansätze werden die strukturalistische Mylhentheorie von Claude Levi-Strauss und der Diskursbegriff von Michel Foucault vorgestellt und diskutiert. Der Garten von Sissinghurst Castle, England, dient als Beispiel einer zu solcher Analyse relevanten Gartengestaltung.

Description: Gated Communities stellen eine Extremform der Privatisierung öffentlicher Räume dar, verbunden mit einer radikalen Veränderung der Stadtlandschaft. Insbesondere in Räumen wie Südkalifornien ist eine hohe Konzentration dieser Wohnform auszumachen. Dabei lassen sich anhand umzäunter Alters- oder Feriensiedlungen sowie familienorientierter Gated Communities unterschiedliche Entwicklungsmuster identifizieren. Gründe für den Erfolg von Gated Communities sind unter anderem der Sicherheitsaspekt, die starke Identifikation mit dem Wohnumfeld sowie eine Organisationsstruktur, welche sich in ausgeprägter Form an den Präferenzen der Bewohner orientiert. Die grössten Vorteile von Gated Communities gegenüber konventionellen Siedlungen liegen bei den auf Effizienz ausgerichteten siedlungsinternen Strukturen. Demgegenüber bestehen jedoch bedeutende räumliche Probleme im Zusammenhang mit der Segregation und der Fragmentierung der Stadtlandschaft. Eine Alternative zu Gated Communities insbesondere im Hinblick auf den Sicherheitsaspekt könnten siedlungsplanerische Konzepte wie Pedestrian Pockets oder Traditional Neighborhood Developments darstellen.

Description: Physical Geography has in recent years developed certain tendencies which have led to a greater coherence and to a greater degree of integration with the rest of Geography. Of particular importance are studies of the human impact, of environmental change and its impacts, of the application of Physical Geography to societal needs, of Geoecology and Landscape Ecology, and of global change.

Description: Die Globalisierung und der internationale Standortwettbewerb haben in den letzten Jahren auch in der Schweiz eine eigentliche Liberalisierungs-, Privatisierungs- und Deregulierungswelle ausgelöst. Dadurch wurden in den davon betroffenen Infrastrukturbereichen (Eisenbahn, Post, Telekommunikation, Elektrizitätswirtschaft) beachtliche Innovationsschübe ausgelöst. Eine zunächst kaum beachtete Nebenwirkung besteht darin, dass der Staat Instrumente verloren hat, um raumordnungspolitische Ziele zu verwirklichen. Wenn über den Bau und Betrieb von Infrastruktureinrichtungen Standortpolitik oder Regionalpolitik betrieben werden soll, so bedingt dies in Zukunft den Abschluss entsprechender Verträge mit den Infrastrukturunternehmungen und die Vergütung der Mehrkosten durch den Staat. Der regionale Ausgleich wird vor allem über den freien Finanzausgleich erfolgen müssen.

Description: The difference between «landscape ecology» and «applied landscape ecology» is the path taken between research work and practical application. Therefore applied landscape ecology includes more than research and development. It works with scientific findings, modeis, methods, concepts etc. until they are ready for practical application.The corresponding Steps are basic research, calibration and Validation, model design, conceptualisation, decision making, development of models for practical application, pilot application and routine application. Four examples from the fields of landscape budget, conservation of natural resources, land use planning and landscape development present current concerns, methodical concepts, procedures, modeis and typical results of applied landscape ecological research. The various examples are classified methodically, their content is briefly commented and illustrated with maps. A look into the future summarises the basic elements of applied landscape ecological research: functions and processes, pro blems of probability and heterogeneity, knowledge based modelling at a high integration level and GIS as a working instrument.

Description: Die Ausführungen dieses Beitrags plädieren für eine Mittlerrolle der Geographie im Grenz- und Überschreitungsbereich von Natur-, Geistes- und Sozialwissenschaften. Gerade im Bereich des globalen Umweltwandels sowie einer damit zusammenhängenden Neubestimmung der Mensch-Umweltbeziehungen wird der Geographie eine Schlüsselfunktion im Hinblick auf eine neue «Einheit des Wissens» zuerkannt.

Description: Menschliche Körper und Räume sind wechselseitig aufeinander bezogen und sehr ähnlichen gesellschaftlichen Konstitutionsbedingungen unterworfen. Dessen ungeachtet wurde der Körper mit seinen Bedeutungen für die Konstruktion und Aneignung von Räumen in der Geographie bisher kaum thematisiert. Dieser Beitrag widmet sich aus feministisch-poststrukturalistischer Perspektive dem dynamischen Wechselverhältnis von Körpern und Räumen. Besonders hervorgehoben werden dabei die Bedeutungen von Fremd- und Eigenwahrnehmung für vielfältige Raumaneignungsstrategien. Damit wird zugleich ein theoretischer Ansatz zur Diskussion gestellt, der neue Betrachtungs- und Analyseebenen eröffnet.

Description: Les requérants d'asile de Genève, installés dans les abris de la protection civile, ne sont pas restés des acteurs spatiaux passifs. Ils ont symboliquement transformé, artificiellement découpé les espaces abri afin de créer des coquilles personnelles les protégeant du regard des voisins et de leur empiétement. Leur stratégie, axée sur une Organisation rationnelle de l'espace occupé, tient compte de l'enfermement et de l'entassement.

Description: Der Beitrag zeigt wirtschaftliche Entwicklungen, Aspekte der Strukturpolitik sowie der neuen internationalen Verflechtungen des Elsass auf. Diese Region stellt unter den Grenzregionen Frankreichs eine Besonderheit dar. weil sie nicht nur räumlich, sondern auch sozioökonomisch und aufgrund ihrer alemannischen Kulturprägung lange Zeit im französischen Nationalgefüge peripherisiert war. in jüngerer Zeit jedoch aufgrund ihres dichten Städtenetzes und einer sorgfältig orchestrierten Inwertsetzung von Internationalisierungspotentialen zu einem wichtigen europäischen Zentralraum aufsteigt. Obwohl die langjährige Marginalisierung einen Nachholbedarf im infrastrukturellen Bereich entstehen Hess, kann das Elsass aufgrund kultureller Gemeinsamkeiten mit den deutschen und schweizerischen Teilen des Oberrheingebiets sowie verstärkter grenzüberschreitender Zusammenarbeit eine wichtige Rolle bei der Gesamtgestaltung eines zukunftsträchtigen Raumes mit Scharnierfunktion in einem «Europa der Regionen» spielen.

Description: Im vorliegenden Artikel wird die im Kontext der Deregulierungsdebatte diskutierte Folge des Systemwechsels hin zur Marktmiete für Wohnungen aus einer sozial- und wirtschaftsgeographischen Perspektive ausgeleuchtet. Hierzu wurden die möglichen Änderungen auf die Investitionsstrategien der Anbieterseite des Wohnungsmarktes analysiert. Aufgrund der Expertenbefragung zeigte sich, dass die bisher vernachlässigte räumlich-soziale Dimension eine bedeutende Orientierungsgrösse der Investitionshandlung darstellt. Weiter konnten zwei idealtypische Investitionsstrategien unterschieden werden. Die konservative Strategie würde nach Einführung der Marktmiete zu vermehrten Investitionen in bereits begehrten Quartieren führen, während die Aufwertungsstrategie Gentrifizierungsprozesse in innenstadtnahen Quartieren auslösen oder fördern würde. Neben diesen beiden Gebietstypen, die ein Aufschlagspotenzial bei der Einführung der Marktmiete aufweisen, gibt es auch Quartiere, in welchen die Investitionstätigkeit eher abnehmen würde, was zu Abwertungstendenzen führte. Bei der Einführung der Marktmiete würde sich somit die räumliche Homogenisierung der Bevölkerung nach ökonomischen Kriterien und die räumlich-soziale Polarisierung der Siedlungsstrukturen verstärken.

Description: Der Wandel der Raumstruktur in Deutschland vollzieht sich im West- und Ostteil der Bundesrepublik in höchst unterschiedlicher Weise: Auf der Basis der Bevölkerungsentwicklung in den siedlungsstrukturellen Kreistypen kann gezeigt werden, dass in Westdeutschland unter Wachstumsdruck ein Prozess fortschreitender Suburbanisierung und Exurbanisierung abläuft, während in Ostdeutschland im Zuge von Urbanisierung und Suburbanisierung die Entwicklung stärker auf die Agglomerationsräume konzentriert bleibt. Damit finden sich ländliche Räume in den ostdeutschen Bundesländern in einem Prozess des Schrumpfens wieder, der ihnen verstärkt die klassischen Züge ländlich-peripherer Strukturschwäche aufzwingt. Dies kann für die ländlichen Räume Brandenburgs nachgewiesen werden. Entwicklungsstrategien hier können nicht anders als auf endogene Potenziale setzen und sollten darüber hinaus Initiativen zu Partnerschaften zwischen dem hoch urbanisierten Zentrum Berlin und der ländlichen Peripherie in Gang setzen.

Description: A-moderne Denkansätze fragen systematisch nach der Konstitution von Entitäten jeglicher Art durch eine erkennende oder sprechende Instanz. Insofern radikalisieren sie moderne Perspektiven. Indem sie jedoch auch die Dichotomie von Natur und Kultur, die stillschweigend vorausgesetzt die Grundlage für das Selbstverständnis der Moderne bildet, als kontextrelative Konstruktion betrachten, setzen sie sich markant von der Moderne ab. Gerät die Unterscheidung von Natur und Kultur in Fluss, kann sie auch nicht mehr zur Ordnung akademischer Aktivitäten herangezogen werden. Für die Geographie könnte sich daraus die Chance ergeben, sich als eine a-moderne Disziplin zu profilieren, die sich der in der Moderne problematischen Mischphänomene zwischen Natur und Kultur kompetent annimmt.

Description: Hauptanliegen des vorliegenden Beitrages ist es, die landschaftsplanerischen Diskussionen über die Bedeutungen und Funktionen von urbanen Brachflächen, die im Kontext der allgemeinen Debatte über das «Grün in der Stadt» zu sehen sind, mit den alltagsweltlichen Sichtweisen von Anwohnern und Nutzern zu vergleichen. Eine grundlegende Annahme in diesem Zusammenhang besteht darin, dass Brachflächen Zwischenräume sind, welche als konkrete Orte einen Bestandteil städtischer Umwelt darstellen, während sie mittels symbolischer Verweisungskräfte über diese hinausgehen und dabei Alternativen zur bestehenden Gesellschaftspraxis aufzeigen. Die Auswertung des mit den Methoden der qualitativen Sozialforschung gewonnenen Datenmaterials erfolgt in zwei Schritten. Zunächst werden in einem «Quervergleich» der Interviewtexte die wichtigsten, thematischen Gesichtspunkte verdeutlicht, welche im zweiten Schritt die Grundlage für die herausgearbeiteten, grundlegenden Typen der Wahrnehmung von Brachen bilden. Von weiterführendem Interesse ist dabei vor allem, dass die mehr oder minder «zivilisationskritische» Perspektive der Freiraumplaner, die sich mit Brachen beschäftigen, nur von einem kleineren Teil der Befragten geteilt wird. Demgegenüber besteht oft ein eher pragmatisches Verhältnis zu den städtischen Brachflächen.

Description: Interhemispheric transport is a key process affecting the accuracy of source quantification for species such as methane by inverse modelling, and is a source of difference among global three-dimensional chemistry transport models (CTMs). Here we use long-term observations of the atmospheric concentration of long-lived species such as CH3CCl3 and CFCl3 for testing three-dimensional chemistry transport models (CTMs); notably their ability to model the interhemispheric transport, distribution, trend, and variability of trace gases in the troposphere. The very striking contrast between the inhomogeneous source distribution and the nearly homogeneous trend, observed in the global ALE/GAGE experiments for both CH3CCl3 and CFCl3 illustrates an efficient interhemispheric transport of atmospherically long-lived chemical species. Analysis of the modelling data at two tropical stations, Barbados (13° N, 59° W) and Samoa (14° S, 124° W), show the close relationship between inter-hemispheric transport and cross-equator Hadley circulations. We found that cross-equator Hadley circulations play a key role in producing the globally homogeneous observed trends. Chemically, the most rapid interaction between CH3CCl3 and OH occurs in the northern summer troposphere; while the most rapid photolysis of CH3CCl3 and CFCl3, and the chemical reactions between CFCl3 and O(1D), take place in the southern summer stratosphere. Therefore, the cross-equator Hadley circulation plays a key role which regulates the southward flux of chemical species. The regulation by the Hadley circulations hence determines the amount of air to be processed by OH, O(1D), and ultraviolet photolysis, in both hemispheres. In summary, the dynamic regulation of the Hadley circulations, and the chemical processing (which crucially depends on the concentration of OH, O(1D), and on the intensity of solar insolation) of the air contribute to the seasonal variability and homogeneous growth rate of observed CH3CCl3 and CFCl3.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (middle atmosphere - composition and chemistry; pollution - urban and regional) - Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (convective processes)

Description: The optical detection of auroral subarcs a few tens of m wide as well as the direct observation of shears several m/s per m over km to sub km scales by rocket instrumentation both indicate that violent and highly localized electrodynamics can occur at times in the auroral ionosphere over scales 100 m or less in width. These observations as well as the detection of unstable ion-acoustic waves observed by incoherent radars along the geomagnetic field lines has motivated us to develop a detailed time-dependent two-dimensional model of short-scale auroral electrodynamics that uses current continuity, Ohm's law, and 8-moment transport equations for the ions and electrons in the presence of large ambient electric fields to describe wide auroral arcs with sharp edges in response to sharp cut-offs in precipitation (even though it may be possible to describe thin arcs and ultra-thin arcs with our model, we have left such a study for future work). We present the essential elements of this new model and illustrate the model's usefulness with a sample run for which the ambient electric field is 100 mV/m away from the arc and for which electron precipitation cuts off over a region 100 m wide. The sample run demonstrates that parallel current densities of the order of several hundred µA m-2 can be triggered in these circumstances, together with shears several m/s per m in magnitude and parallel electric fields of the order of 0.1 mV/m around 130 km altitude. It also illustrates that the local ionospheric properties like densities, temperature and composition can strongly be affected by the violent localized electrodynamics and vice-versa.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere, electric fields and currents, ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions)

Description: Tomographic techniques are successfully applied to obtain 4D images of the tropospheric refractivity in a local dense network of global positioning system (GPS) receivers. We show here how GPS data are processed to obtain the tropospheric slant wet delays and discuss the validity of the processing. These slant wet delays are the observables in the tomographic processing. We then discuss the inverse problem in 4D tropospheric tomography making extensive use of simulations to test the system and define the resolution and the impact of noise. Finally, we use data from the Kilauea network in Hawaii for February 1, 1997, and a local 4×4×40 voxel grid on a region of 400 km2 and 15 km in height to produce the corresponding 4D wet refractivity fields, which are then validated using forecast analysis from the European Center for Medium Range Weather Forecast (ECMWF). We conclude that tomographic techniques can be used to monitor the troposphere in time and space.Key words: Radio science (remote sensing; instruments and techniques)

Description: It is proposed that a component of meteoric smoke, sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), provides particularly effective condensation nuclei for noctilucent clouds. This assertion is based on three conditions being met. The first is that NaHCO3 is present at sufficient concentration (±104 cm-3) in the upper mesosphere between 80 and 90 km. It is demonstrated that there is strong evidence for this based on recent laboratory measurements coupled with atmospheric modelling. The second condition is that the thermodynamics of NaHCO3(H2O)n cluster formation allow spontaneous nucleation to occur under mesospheric conditions at temperatures below 140 K. The Gibbs free energy changes for forming clusters with n = 1 and 2 were computed from quantum calculations using hybrid density functional/Hartree-Fock (B3LYP) theory and a large basis set with added polarization and diffuse functions. The results were then extrapolated to higher n using an established dependence of the free energy on cluster size and the free energy for the sublimation of H2O to bulk ice. A 1-dimensional model of sodium chemistry was then employed to show that spontaneous nucleation to form ice particles (n 〉100) should occur between 84 and 89 km in the high-latitude summer mesosphere. The third condition is that other metallic components of meteoric smoke are less effective condensation nuclei, so that the total number of potential nuclei is small relative to the amount of available H2O. Quantum calculations indicate that this is probably the case for major constituents such as Fe(OH)2, FeO3 and MgCO3.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (aerosols and particles; cloud physics and chemistry; middle atmosphere · composition and chemistry)

Description: The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Southern Oscillation (SO) are compared from the standpoint of a possible common temporal scale of oscillation. To do this a cross-spectrum of the temporal series of NAO and SO indices was determined, finding a significant common oscillation of 6-8 years. To assure this finding, both series were decomposed in their main oscillations using singular spectrum analysis (SSA). Resulting reconstructed series of 6-8 years oscillation were then cross-correlated without and with pre-whitened, the latter being significant. The main conclusion is a possible relationship between a common oscillation of 6-8 years' that represents about 20% of the SO variance and about 25% of the NAO variance.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology; ocean-atmosphere interactions)

Description: A nonlinear forecasting method was used to predict the behavior of a cloud coverage time series several hours in advance. The method is based on the reconstruction of a chaotic strange attractor using four years of cloud absorption data obtained from half-hourly Meteosat infrared images from Northwestern Spain. An exhaustive nonlinear analysis of the time series was carried out to reconstruct the phase space of the underlying chaotic attractor. The forecast values are used by a non-hydrostatic meteorological model ARPS for daily weather prediction and their results compared with surface temperature measurements from a meteorological station and a vertical sounding. The effect of noise in the time series is analyzed in terms of the prediction results.Key words: Meterology and atmospheric dynamics (mesoscale meteorology; general) – General (new fields)

Description: A physical model of the coupled thermosphere and ionosphere has been used to determine the accuracy of model predictions of the ionospheric response to geomagnetic activity, and assess our understanding of the physical processes. The physical model is driven by empirical descriptions of the high-latitude electric field and auroral precipitation, as measures of the strength of the magnetospheric sources of energy and momentum to the upper atmosphere. Both sources are keyed to the time-dependent TIROS/NOAA auroral power index. The output of the model is the departure of the ionospheric F region from the normal climatological mean. A 50-day interval towards the end of 1997 has been simulated with the model for two cases. The first simulation uses only the electric fields and auroral forcing from the empirical models, and the second has an additional source of random electric field variability. In both cases, output from the physical model is compared with F-region data from ionosonde stations. Quantitative model/data comparisons have been performed to move beyond the conventional "visual" scientific assessment, in order to determine the value of the predictions for operational use. For this study, the ionosphere at two ionosonde stations has been studied in depth, one each from the northern and southern mid-latitudes. The model clearly captures the seasonal dependence in the ionospheric response to geomagnetic activity at mid-latitude, reproducing the tendency for decreased ion density in the summer hemisphere and increased densities in winter. In contrast to the "visual" success of the model, the detailed quantitative comparisons, which are necessary for space weather applications, are less impressive. The accuracy, or value, of the model has been quantified by evaluating the daily standard deviation, the root-mean-square error, and the correlation coefficient between the data and model predictions. The modeled quiet-time variability, or standard deviation, and the increases during geomagnetic activity, agree well with the data in winter, but is low in summer. The RMS error of the physical model is about the same as the IRI empirical model during quiet times. During the storm events the RMS error of the model improves on IRI, but there are occasionally false-alarms. Using unsmoothed data over the full interval, the correlation coefficients between the model and data are low, between 0.3 and 0.4. Isolating the storm intervals increases the correlation to between 0.43 and 0.56, and by smoothing the data the values increases up to 0.65. The study illustrates the substantial difference between scientific success and a demonstration of value for space weather applications.Key words: Ionosphere (ionospheric disturbances; mid-latitude ionosphere; modeling and forecasting)

Description: High time resolution data from the CUTLASS Finland radar during the interval 01:30-03:30 UT on 11 May, 1998, are employed to characterise the ionospheric electric field due to a series of omega bands extending ~5° in latitude at a resolution of 45 km in the meridional direction and 50 km in the azimuthal direction. E-region observations from the STARE Norway VHF radar operating at a resolution of 15 km over a comparable region are also incorporated. These data are combined with ground magnetometer observations from several stations. This allows the study of the ionospheric equivalent current signatures and height integrated ionospheric conductances associated with omega bands as they propagate through the field-of-view of the CUTLASS and STARE radars. The high-time resolution and multi-point nature of the observations leads to a refinement of the previous models of omega band structure. The omega bands observed during this interval have scale sizes ~500 km and an eastward propagation velocity ~0.75 km s-1. They occur in the morning sector (~05 MLT), simultaneously with the onset/intensification of a substorm to the west during the recovery phase of a previous substorm in the Scandinavian sector. A possible mechanism for omega band formation and their relationship to the substorm phase is discussed..Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents) · Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions)

Description: On May 4, 1998, at 0227 UT an interplanetary shock crossed the WIND spacecraft, and half an hour later a Sudden Commencement occurred. Coinciding with the Sudden Commencement a rapid intensification of the flux of particle precipitation into the ionosphere was observed. Evidence is presented that the ionospheric electric fields were influenced by the associated dynamic variations of the ionospheric conductivities. Following the initial phase the ionospheric flow speeds increased rapidly over the next 20 min to more than 2000 m/s, in agreement with an increased effective coupling of the solar wind energy to the magnetosphere following the interplanetary shock that caused the Sudden Commencement. These strong flows were meandering in latitude, a type of plasma flow modulation that has been reported before to occur during Omega band events: a string of alternating field-aligned currents propagating eastward. The riometer absorption was found to be at a minimum in regions associated with outward directed field aligned currents. The riometer absorption regions (the regions of particle precipitation) were drifting  with E × B drift speed of the ionospheric electrons.Key words: Interplanetary physics (interplanetary shocks) - Ionosphere (electric fields and currents) - Magnetospheric physics (energetic particles, precipitating)

Description: Averaged seasonal variations of wind perturbation intensities and vertical flux of horizontal momentum produced by internal gravity waves (IGWs) with periods 0.2-1 h and 1-6 h are studied at the altitudes 65-80 km using the MU radar measurement data from the middle and upper atmosphere during 1986-1997 at Shigaraki, Japan (35° N, 136° E). IGW intensity has maxima in winter and summer, winter values having substantial interannual variations. Mean wave momentum flux is directed to the west in winter and to the east in summer, opposite to the mean wind in the middle atmosphere. Major IGW momentum fluxes come to the mesosphere over Shigaraki from the Pacific direction in winter and continental Asia in summer.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; waves and tides) · Ionosphere (ionospheric disturbances)

Description: The relationship between the storm-time ring current and the auroral electrojets is investigated using IMAGE magnetometer data, DSt and H-SYM, and solar wind data. Statistical results as well as the investigation of single events show that the auroral electrojets occur also during nonstorm conditions without storm-time ring current development and even during the storm recovery phase of increasing DSt. A close correlation between electrojet intensity and ring current intensity was not found. Though the eastward electrojet moves equatorward during the storm main phase there is no unequivocal relationship between the movement of the westward electrojet and the ring current development. All these results suggest that the auroral electrojets and the ring current develop more or less independently of each other.Key words: Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; storms and substorms)

Description: The SuperDARN HF radars have been employed in the past to investigate the spectral characteristics of coherent backscatter from L-shell aligned features in the auroral E region. The present study employs all-sky camera observations of the aurora from Husafell, Iceland, and the two SuperDARN radars located on Iceland, Þykkvibær and Stokkseyri, to determine the optical signature of such backscatter features. It is shown that, especially during quiet geomagnetic conditions, the backscatter region is closely associated with east-west aligned diffuse auroral features, and that the two move in tandem with each other. This association between optical and radar aurora has repercussions for the instability mechanisms responsible for generating the E region irregularities from which radars scatter. This is discussed and compared with previous studies investigating the relationship between optical and VHF radar aurora. In addition, although it is known that E region backscatter is commonly observed by SuperDARN radars, the present study demonstrates for the first time that multiple radars can observe the same feature to extend over at least 3 h of magnetic local time, allowing precipitation features to be mapped over large portions of the auroral zone.Key words: Ionosphere (particle precipitation; plasma waves and instabilities)

Description: This study demonstrates that ordinary kriging in spherical coordinates using experimental semi-variograms provides highly usable results, especially near the pole in winter and/or where there could be data missing over large areas. In addition, kriging allows display of the spatial variability of daily ozone measurements at different pressure levels. Three satellite data sets were used: Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) data, Solar Backscattered UltraViolet (SBUV), and the Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE II) ozone profiles. Since SBUV is a nadir-viewing instrument, measurements are only taken along the sun-synchronous polar orbits of the satellite. SAGE II is a limb-viewing solar occultation instrument, and measurements have high vertical resolution but poor daily coverage. TOMS has wider coverage with equidistant distribution of data  (resolution 1° × 1.25°) but provides no vertical information. Comparisons of the resulting SBUV-interpolated (column-integrated) ozone field with TOMS data are strongly in agreement, with a global correlation of close to 98%. Comparisons of SBUV-interpolated ozone profiles with daily SAGE II profiles are relatively good, and comparable to those found in the literature. The interpolated ozone layers at different pressure levels are shown.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (middle atmosphere - composition and chemistry) - Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics)

Description: High-time resolution CUTLASS observations and ground-based magnetometers have been employed to study the occurrence of vortical flow structures propagating through the high-latitude ionosphere during magnetospheric substorms. Fast-moving flow vortices (~800 m s-1) associated with Hall currents flowing around upward directed field-aligned currents are frequently observed propagating at high speed (~1 km s-1) azimuthally away from the region of the ionosphere associated with the location of the substorm expansion phase onset. Furthermore, a statistical analysis drawn from over 1000 h of high-time resolution, nightside radar data has enabled the characterisation of the bulk properties of these vortical flow systems. Their occurrence with respect to substorm phase has been investigated and a possible generation mechanism has been suggested.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; electric fields and currents) · Magnetospheric physics (storms and substorms)

Description: Clouds affect local surface UV irradiance, even if the horizontal distance from the radiation observation site amounts to several kilometers. In order to investigate this effect, which we call remote clouds effect, a 3-dimensional radiative transfer model is applied. Assuming the atmosphere is subdivided into a quadratic based sector and its surrounding, we quantify the influence of changing cloud coverage within this surrounding from 0% to 100% on surface UV irradiance at the sector center. To work out this remote clouds influence as a function of sector base size, we made some calculations for different sizes between 10 km × 10 km and 100 km × 100 km. It appears that in the case of small sectors (base size 〈 20 km × 20 km) the remote clouds effect is highly variable: Depending on cloud structure, solar zenith angle and wavelength, the surface UV irradiance may be enhanced up to 15% as well as reduced by more than 50%. In contrast, for larger sectors it is always the case that enhancements become smaller by 5% if sector base size exceeds 60 km × 60 km. However, these values are upper estimates of the remote cloud effects and they are found only for special cloud structures. Since these structures might occur but cannot be regarded as typical, different satellite observed cloud formations (horizontal resolution about 1 km × 1 km) have also been investigated. For these more common cloud distributions we find remote cloud effects to be distinctly smaller than the corresponding upper estimates, e.g., for a sector with base size of 25 km × 25 km the surface UV irradiance error due to ignoring the actual remote clouds and replacing their influence with periodic horizontal boundary conditions is less than 3%, whereas the upper estimate of remote clouds effect would suggest an error close to 10%.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (transmission and scattering of radiation) - Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (radiative process)

Description: A 16 mHz Pc4 pulsation was recorded on March 17, 1998, in the prenoon sector of the Earth's magnetosphere by the Equator-S satellite. The event is strongly localized in radial direction at approximately L = 5 and exhibits properties of a field line resonance such as an ellipticity change as seen by applying the method of the analytical signal to the magnetic field data. The azimuthal wave number was estimated as m \approx 150. We discuss whether this event can be explained by the FLR mechanism and find out that the change in ellipticity is more a general feature of a localized Alfvén wave than indicative of a resonant process.Key words: Magnetospheric physics (MHD waves and instabilities)

Description: It is becoming increasingly clear that electron thermal effects have to be taken into account when dealing with the theory of ionospheric instabilities in the high-latitude ionosphere. Unfortunately, the mathematical complexity often hides the physical processes at work. We follow the limiting cases of a complex but systematic generalized fluid approach to get to the heart of the thermal processes that affect the stability of E region waves during electron heating events. We try to show as simply as possible under what conditions thermal effects contribute to the destabilization of strongly field-aligned (zero aspect angle) Farley-Buneman modes. We show that destabilization can arise from a combination of (1) a reduction in pressure gradients associated with temperature fluctuations that are out of phase with density fluctuations, and (2) thermal diffusion, which takes the electrons from regions of enhanced temperatures to regions of negative temperature fluctuations, and therefore enhanced densities. However, we also show that, contrary to what has been suggested in the past, for modes excited along the E0×B direction thermal feedback decreases the growth rate and raises the threshold speed of the Farley-Buneman instability. The increase in threshold speed appears to be important enough to explain the generation of `Type IV' waves in the high-latitude ionosphere.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; iono- spheric irregularities; plasma waves and instabilities)

Description: We study how a coastal obstruction (peninsula or coastal island) affects the three-dimensional barotropic currents in an oblong rectangular basin with variable bathymetry across the basin width. The transverse depth profile is asymmetric and the peninsula or island lies in the middle of the long side of the rectangle. A semi-spectral model for the Boussinesq-approximated shallow water equations, developed in Haidvogel et al. and altered for semi-implicit numerical integration in time in Wang and Hutter, is used to find the steady barotropic state circulation pattern to external winds. The structural (qualitative) rearrangements and quanti2tative features of the current pattern are studied under four principal wind directions and different lengths of the peninsula and its inclination relative to the shore. The essentially non-linear relationships of the water flux between the two sub-basins (formed by the obstructing peninsula) and the corresponding cross-sectional area left open are found and analysed. It is further analysed whether the depth-integrated model, usually adopted by others, is meaningful when applied to the water exchange problems. The flow through the channel narrowing is quantitatively estimated and compared with the three-dimensional results. The dynamics of the vortex structure and the identification of the up-welling/down-welling zones around the obstruction are discussed in detail. The influence of the transformation of the peninsula into a coastal island on the global basin circulation is considered as are the currents in the channel. The geometric and physical reasons for the anisotropy of the current structure which prevail through all obtained solutions are also discussed.Key words: Oceanography: general (limnology; numerical modeling) - Oceanography: physical (currents)

Description: Lee and mountain waves are dominant dynamic processes in the atmosphere above mountain areas. ST VHF radars had been intensively used to investigate these wave processes. These studies are summarized in this work. After discussing features of long-period quasi-stationary lee waves, attention is drawn to the frequent occurrence of freely propagating waves of shorter periods, which seem to be more common and characteristic for wave processes generated over mountainous areas. Characteristics of these waves such as their relation to the topography and background winds, the possibility of trapping by and breaking in the tropopause region and their propagation into the stratosphere is investigated. These orographically produced waves transport energy and momentum into the troposphere and stratosphere, which is considered an important contribution to the kinetic energy of the lower atmosphere. The occurrence of inertia-gravity waves in the stratosphere had been confused with lee waves, which is discussed in conclusion. Finally further questions on mountain and lee waves are drawn up, which remain to be solved and where investigations with ST radars could play a fundamental role.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (Middle atmosphere dynamics; Waves and tides; Instruments and techniques)

Description: We report on the comparison of winds measured by a medium frequency (MF) radar near Christchurch, New Zealand, and by the high resolution doppler imager (HRDI). Previous comparisons have demonstrated that there can be significant differences in the winds obtained by the two techniques, and our results are no different. However, these data show relatively good agreement in the meridional direction, but large differences in the zonal direction, where the radar is regularly measuring the zonal wind as too easterly. To do the comparison, overpasses from the satellite must be obtained when it is close to the radar site. The radar data are averaged in time around the overpass because we know the radars sample phenomena which have spatial and temporal scales which make them invisible to HRDI. There are a limited number of overpass comparisons which limit our confidence in these results, but a detailed analysis of these data show that the proximity of the overpass is often an important factor in the differences obtained. Other factors examined include the influence of the local time of the overpass, and the amount of radar data averaged around the overpass time.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (instruments and techniques) · Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; instruments and techniques)

Description: In this study we test a stream function method suggested by Israelevich and Ershkovich for instantaneous reconstruction of global, high-latitude ionospheric convection patterns from a limited set of experimental observations, namely, from the electric field or ion drift velocity vector measurements taken along two polar satellite orbits only. These two satellite passes subdivide the polar cap into several adjacent areas. Measured electric fields or ion drifts can be considered as boundary conditions (together with the zero electric potential condition at the low-latitude boundary) for those areas, and the entire ionospheric convection pattern can be reconstructed as a solution of the boundary value problem for the stream function without any preliminary information on ionospheric conductivities. In order to validate the stream function method, we utilized the IZMIRAN electrodynamic model (IZMEM) recently calibrated by the DMSP ionospheric electrostatic potential observations. For the sake of simplicity, we took the modeled electric fields along the noon-midnight and dawn-dusk meridians as the boundary conditions. Then, the solution(s) of the boundary value problem (i.e., a reconstructed potential distribution over the entire polar region) is compared with the original IZMEM/DMSP electric potential distribution(s), as well as with the various cross cuts of the polar cap. It is found that reconstructed convection patterns are in good agreement with the original modelled patterns in both the northern and southern polar caps. The analysis is carried out for the winter and summer conditions, as well as for a number of configurations of the interplanetary magnetic field.Key words: Ionosphere (electric fields and currents; plasma convection; modelling and forecasting)

Description: We study the relative importance of sea-land and mountain-valley thermal contrasts in determining the development of thermally forced mesoscale circulations (TFMCs) over a mountainous peninsula. We first analyse the energetics of the problem, and using this theory, we interprete the numerical simulations over Calabria, a mountainous peninsula in southern Italy. The CSU 3-D nonlinear numerical model is utilised to simulate the dynamics and the thermodynamics of the atmospheric fields over Calabria. Results show the importance of orography in determining the pattern of the flow and the local climate in a region as complex as Calabria. Analysis of the results shows that the energetics due to the sea-land interactions are more efficient when the peninsula is flat. The importance of the energy due to the sea-land decreases as the mountain height of the peninsula increases. The energy stored over the mountain gains in importance, untill it is released by the readjustment of the warm mountain air as it prevails over the energy released by the inland penetration of the sea breeze front. For instance, our results show that over a peninsula 100 km wide the energy over the mountain and the energy in the sea-land contrast are of the same order when the height of the mountain is about 700 m, for a 1500 m convective boundary layer (CBL) depth. Over the Calabrian peninsula, the energy released by the hot air in the CBL of the mountain prevails over the energy released by the inland penetration of the sea air. Calabria is about 1500 m high and about 50 km wide, and the CBL is of the order of 1500 m. The energy over the mountain is about four time larger than the energy contained in the sea-land contrast. Furthermore, the energetics increase with the patch width of the peninsula, and when its half width is much less than the Rossby radius, the MAPE of the sea breeze is negligible. When its half width is much larger than the Rossby radius, the breezes from the two opposing coastlines do not interact. Over Calabria peninsula, numerical simulations show that the flow is highly ageostrophic, and that the flow intensity increases from sunrise to reach its maximum in the afternoon but before sunset, which suggests that, in the late part of the day, the conversion of potential energy into kinetic energy is balanced by the dissipation.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (climatology; mesoscale meteorology)

Description: A stable evening sector arc is studied using observations from the FAST satellite at 1250 km altitude and the MIRACLE ground-based network, which contains all-sky cameras, coherent radars (STARE), and magnetometers. Both FAST and STARE observe a northward electric field region of about 200 km width and a field magnitude of about 50 mV/m southward of the arc, which is a typical signature for an evening-sector arc. The field-aligned current determined from FAST electron and magnetometer data are in rather good agreement within the arcs. Outside the arcs, the electron data misses the current carriers of the downward FAC probably because it is mainly carried by electrons of smaller energy than the instrument threshold. Studying the westward propagation speed of small undulations associated with the arc using the all-sky cameras gives a velocity of about 2 km/s. This speed is higher than the background ionospheric plasma speed (about 1 km/s), but it agrees rather well with the idea originally proposed by Davis that the undulations reflect an E × B motion in the acceleration region. The ground magnetograms indicate that the main current flows slightly south of the arc. Computing the ionospheric conductivity from FAST electron data and using the ground magnetograms to estimate the current yields an ionospheric electric field pattern, in rather good agreement with FAST results.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions) - Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena)

Description: A preliminary analysis of Pc5, ULF wave activity observed with the IMAGE magnetometer array and the EISCAT UHF radar in the post midnight sector indicates that such waves can be caused by the modulation of the ionospheric conductivity as well as the wave electric field. An observed Pc5 pulsation is divided into three separate intervals based upon the EISCAT data. In the first and third, the Pc5 waves are observed only in the measured electron density between 90 and 112 km and maxima in the electron density at these altitudes are attributed to pulsed precipitation of electrons with energies up to 40 keV which result in the height integrated Hall conductivity being pulsed between 10 and 50 S. In the second interval, the Pc5 wave is observed in the F-region ion temperature, electron density and electron temperature but not in the D and E region electron densities. The analysis suggests that the wave during this interval is a coupled Alfven and compressional mode.Key words: Ionosphere (electric fields and currents) - Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction; MHD waves and instabilities)

Description: A Lagrangian technique is developed and applied to calculate stratosphere-troposphere exchange in an extratropical cyclone. This exchange is computed from the potential vorticity or PV along trajectories, calculated from ECMWF circulation data. Special emphasis is put on the statistical significance of the results. The computed field of the cross-tropopause flux is dominated by elongated patterns of statistically significant large downward and small upward fluxes. The downward fluxes mainly occur in the lower part of the considered tropopause folds. The upward fluxes are found near the entrance of the folds, in the tropopause ridges. The ratio between the area averaged downward and upward cross-tropopause fluxes increases with increasing strength of the cyclone. Since the largest fluxes are shown to occur in the regions with the largest wind shear, where PV-mixing is thought to cause large cross-tropopause fluxes, the results are expected to be reliable, at least in a qualitative sense. The position of a tropopause fold along the northwest coast of Africa is confirmed by total ozone observations. The results indicate that the applied Lagrangian technique is an appropriate tool for diagnosing stratosphere-troposphere exchange.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (general circulation; mesoscale meteorology; middle atmosphere dynamics)

Description: Using observations with the ALOMAR SOUSY radar near Andenes (69.3°N, 16.0°E) from 1994 until 1997 polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) have been investigated in dependence on geomagnetic K indices derived at the Auroral Observatory Tromsø (69.66°N, 18.94°E). During night-time and morning hours a significant correlation between the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the radar results and the geomagnetic K indices could be detected with a maximum correlation near midnight. The correlation becomes markedly smaller in the afternoon and early evening hours with a minimum near 17 UT. This diurnal variation is in reasonable agreement with riometer absorption at Ivalo (68.55°N, 27.28°E) and can be explained by the diurnal variation of ionization due to precipitating high energetic particles. Therefore, a part of the diurnal PMSE variation is caused by this particle precipitation. The variability of the solar EUV variation, however, has no significant influence on the PMSE during the observation period.Keywords: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere) - Magnetospheric physics (energetic particles, precipitating) - Radio science (remote sensing)

Description: An RH-560 rocket flight was conducted from Sriharikota rocket range (SHAR) (14°N, 80°E, dip latitude 5.5°N) to study electron density and electric field irregularities during spread F. The rocket was launched at 2130 local time (LT) and it attained an apogee of 348 km. Results of electron density fluctuations are presented here. Two extremely sharp layers of very high electron density were observed at 105 and 130 km. The electron density increase in these layers was by a factor of 50 in a vertical extent of 10 km. Large depletions in electron density were observed around 175 and 238 km. Both sharp layers as well as depletions were observed also during the descent. The presence of sharp layers and depletions during the ascent and the descent of the rocket as well as an order of magnitude less electron density, in 150-300 km region during the descent, indicate the presence of strong large-scale horizontal gradients in the electron density. Some of the valley region irregularities (165-178 km), in the intermediate scale size range, observed during this flight, show spectral peaks at 2 km and can be interpreted in terms of the image striation theory suggested by Vickrey et al. The irregularities at 176 km do not exhibit any peak at kilometer scales and appear to be of new type. The growth rate of intermediate scale size irregularities, produced through generalized Rayleigh Taylor instability, was calculated for the 200-330 km altitude, using observed values of electron density gradients and an assumed vertically downward wind of 20 ms-1. These growth rate calculations suggest that the observed irregularities could be produced by the gradient drift instability.Key words: Ionosphere (equatorial ionosphere; ionospheric irregularities) - Radio science (ionospheric physics)

Description: We present for the first time a statistical study of \geq50 keV ion events of a magnetospheric origin upstream from Earth's bow shock. The statistical analysis of the 50-220 keV ion events observed by the IMP-8 spacecraft shows: (1) a dawn-dusk asymmetry in ion distributions, with most events and lower intensities upstream from the quasi-parallel pre-dawn side (4 LT-6 LT) of the bow shock, (2) highest ion fluxes upstream from the nose/dusk side of the bow shock under an almost radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) configuration, and (3) a positive correlation of the ion intensities with the solar wind speed and the index of geomagnetic index Kp, with an average solar wind speed as high as 620 km s-1 and values of the index Kp 〉 2. The statistical results are consistent with (1) preferential leakage of ~50 keV magnetospheric ions from the dusk magnetopause, (2) nearly scatter free motion of ~50 keV ions within the magnetosheath, and (3) final escape of magnetospheric ions from the quasi-parallel dawn side of the bow shock. An additional statistical analysis of higher energy (290-500 keV) upstream ion events also shows a dawn-dusk asymmetry in the occurrence frequency of these events, with the occurrence frequency ranging between ~16%-~34% in the upstream region.Key words. Interplanetary physics (energetic particles; planetary bow shocks)

Description: This study presents the preliminary results of the local energy budget and dynamic characteristics of the surface atmospheric boundary-layer (SBL) during the WELSONS (wind erosion and losses of soil nutrients in semiarid Spain) experiment. Some Mediterranean regions suffer land degradation by wind erosion as a consequence of their particular soil and climate conditions and inappropriate agricultural practice. In Spain, where land degradation by water erosion is well known, the lack of field studies to quantify soils losses by wind erosion resulted in the European Community organizing a scientific program for this specific issue. The European programme known as WELSONS was devoted to study the wind erosion process in central Aragon (NE Spain). This multidisciplinary experiment, which began in 1996 and finished in 1998, was carried out over an agricultural soil which was left fallow. Within the experimental field, two plots were delimited where two tillage treatments were applied, a mould-board ploughing (or conventional tillage denoted CT) and chisel ploughing (reduced tillage denoted RT). This was to study on bare soil the influence of tillage method on surface conditions, saltation flux, vertical dust flux, erosion rates, dynamics characteristics such as friction velocity, roughness length, etc., and energy budget. The partitioning of the available energy, resulting from the dynamics of the SBL, are quite different over the two plots because of their own peculiar soil and surface properties. The first results show that the RT treatment seems to provide a wind erosion protection. Because of the long data recording time and particular phenomena (formation of a crust at the soil surface, very dry conditions, high wind speed for instance), these microclimatological data acquired during the WELSONS programmes may be helpful to test atmospheric boundary-layer models coupled with soil models.Key words: Hydrology (desertification) - Meterology and atmospheric dynamics (general)

Description: Using a collision by collision model from Lorentzen et al., the latitudinal and longitudinal dispersion of single auroral protons are calculated. The proton energies varies from 1 to 50 keV, and are released into the atmosphere at 700 km altitude. The dipole magnetic field has a dip-angle of 8 degrees. Results show that the main dispersion region is at high altitudes (300-350 km) and occurs during the first few charge exchange collisions. As the proton travels further down the atmosphere the mean free path becomes smaller, and as a result the spreading effect will not be as pronounced. This means that the first few charge exchange collisions fully determines the width of both the latitudinal and longitudinal dispersion. The volume emission rate was calculated for energies between 1 and 50 keV, and it was found that dayside auroral hydrogen emissions rates were approximately 10 times weaker than nightside emission rates. Simulations were also performed to obtain the dependence of the particle dispersion as a function of initial pitch-angle. It was found that the dispersion varies greatly with initial pitch-angle, and the results are summarized in two tables; a main and an extreme dispersion region.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; · particle precipitation) · Space plasma physics · (transport processes)

Description: Characteristic signatures are often observed in HF radar range-time-intensity plots when travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) are present. These signatures, in particular the variation of the F-region skip distance, have been synthesised using a ray tracing model. The magnitude of the skip variation is found to be a function of the peak electron density perturbation associated with the TID and radar frequency. Examination of experimental observations leads to an estimate of the peak electron density perturbation amplitude of around 25% for those TIDs observed by the CUTLASS radar system. The advantage of using the skip variation over the radar return amplitude as an indicator of density perturbation is also discussed. An example of a dual radar frequency experiment has been given. The investigation of the effect of radar frequency on the observations will aid the optimisation of future experiments..Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere -atmosphere interactions; ionospheric disturbances)

Description: An updated empirical climatic zonally averaged prevailing wind model for the upper mesosphere/lower thermosphere (70-110 km), extending from 80°N to 80°S is presented. The model is constructed from the fitting of monthly mean winds from meteor radar and MF radar measurements at more than 40 stations, well distributed over the globe. The height-latitude contour plots of monthly mean zonal and meridional winds for all months of the year, and of annual mean wind, amplitudes and phases of annual and semiannual harmonics of wind variations are analyzed to reveal the main features of the seasonal variation of the global wind structures in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. Some results of comparison between the ground-based wind models and the space-based models are presented. It is shown that, with the exception of annual mean systematic bias between the zonal winds provided by the ground-based and space-based models, a good agreement between the models is observed. The possible origin of this bias is discussed.Key words: Meteorology and Atmospheric dynamics (general circulation; middle atmosphere dynamics; thermospheric dynamics)

Description: For the first time during the mission, the Anisotropy Telescopes instrument on board the Ulysses spacecraft measured constant zero anisotropy of protons in the 1.3-2.2 MeV energy range, for a period lasting more than three days. This measurement was made during the energetic particle event taking place at Ulysses between 25 November and 15 December 1998, an event characterised by constant high proton fluxes within a region delimited by two interplanetary forward shocks, at a distance of 5.2 AU from the Sun and heliographic latitude of 17°S. We present the ATs results for this event and discuss their possible interpretation and their relevance to the issue of intercalibration of the two telescopes.Key words: Interplanetary physics (energetic particles) - Solar physics, astrophysics and astronomy (energetic particles) - Space plasma physics (instruments and techniques)

Description: The effects of the characteristics of the interplanetary medium on the radar scattering occurrence, related to the whole array of SuperDARN radars installed in the Northern Hemisphere, have been studied over a two-year period. Statistically significant correlations of the variation of the scattering occurrence are found with the merging electric field and with the negative Bz component of the interplanetary magnetic field, independent of the seasonal period considered. This result demonstrates that the merging rate (and in particular the reconnection process) between the interplanetary magnetic field and the magnetosphere is a relevant factor affecting the occurrence of scattering. For comparison, we note that no statistically significant correlations are obtained when the interplanetary ion density or the solar wind speed are considered, although also these variables affect to a small degree the scattering occurrence variation. The study of the latitudinal and magnetic local time dependence of the observations shows an association between the considered correlation and the location of the auroral oval and the cusp/cleft region.Key words: Ionosphere (ionospheric irregularities) · Magnetospheric physics (solar wind-magnetosphere interactions) · Radio science (ionospheric physics)

Description: Observations and modelling are presented which illustrate the ability of the Finland CUTLASS HF radar to monitor the afternoon-evening equatorward auroral boundary during weak geomagnetic activity. The subsequent substorm growth phase development was also observed in the late evening sector as a natural continuation of the preceding auroral oval dynamics. Over an 8 h period the CUTLASS Finland radar observed a narrow (in range) and persistent region of auroral F- and (later) E-layer echoes which gradually moved equatorward, consistent with the auroral oval diurnal rotation. This echo region corresponds to the subvisual equatorward edge of the diffuse luminosity belt (SEEL) and the ionospheric footprint of the inner boundary of the electron plasma sheet. The capability of the Finland CUTLASS radar to monitor the E-layer SEEL-echoes is a consequence of the nearly zero E-layer rectilinear aspect angles in a region 5–10° poleward of the radar site. The F-layer echoes are probably the boundary blob echoes. The UHF EISCAT radar was in operation and observed a similar subvisual auroral arc and an F-layer electron density enhancement when it appeared in its antenna beam.Key words: Ionsophere (ionospheric irregularities) · Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; magnetosphere–ionosphere interactions)

Description: Based on modeling of the perturbations in power and elevation angle produced by travelling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs), and observed by the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network, procedures for determining the TID properties are suggested. These procedures are shown to produce reasonable agreement with those properties of the TIDs that can be measured from simultaneous ionosonde measurements. The modeling shows that measurements of angle-of-elevation perturbations by SuperDARN allows for better determination of the TID properties than using only the perturbations of power as is commonly done.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere-atmosphere interactions)

Description: Global and regional geomagnetic field models give the components of the geomagnetic field as functions of position and epoch; most utilise a polynomial or Fourier series to map the input variables to the geomagnetic field values. The only temporal variation generally catered for in these models is the long term secular variation. However, there is an increasing need amongst certain users for models able to provide shorter term temporal variations, such as the geomagnetic daily variation. In this study, for the first time, artificial neural networks (ANNs) are utilised to develop a geomagnetic daily variation model. The model developed is for the southern African region; however, the method used could be applied to any other region or even globally. Besides local time and latitude, input variables considered in the daily variation model are season, sunspot number, and degree of geomagnetic activity. The ANN modelling of the geomagnetic daily variation is found to give results very similar to those obtained by the synthesis of harmonic coefficients which have been computed by the more traditional harmonic analysis of the daily variation.Key words. Geomagnetism and paleomagnetism (time variations; diurnal to secular) · Ionosphere (modelling and forecasting)

Description: Arecibo (18.4 N, 66.7 W) incoherent scatter (IS) observations of electron density N(h) are compared with the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI-95) during midday (10–14 h), for summer, winter and equinox, at solar maximum (1981). The N(h) profiles below the F2 peak, are normalized to the peak density NmF2 of the F region and are then compared with the IRI-95 model using both the standard B0 (old option) and the Gulyaeva-B0 thickness (new option). The thickness parameter B0 is obtained from the observed electron density profiles and compared with those obtained from the IRI-95 using both the options. Our studies indicate that during summer and equinox, in general, the values of electron densities at all the heights given by the IRI model (new option), are generally larger than those obtained from IS measurements. However, during winter, the agreement between the IRI and the observed values is reasonably good in the bottom part of the F2 layer but IRI underestimates electron density at F1 layer heights. The IRI profiles obtained with the old option gives much better results than those generated with the new option. Compared to the observations, the IRI profiles are found to be much thicker using Gulyaeva-B0 option than using standard B0.Key words: Ionosphere (modelling and forecasting)

Description: During the summer of 1997 investigations into the nature of polar mesosphere summer echoes (PMSE) were conducted using the European incoherent scatter (EISCAT) VHF radar in Norway. The radar was operated in a frequency domain interferometry (FDI) mode over a period of two weeks to study the frequency coherence of the returned radar signals. The operating frequencies of the radar were 224.0 and 224.6 MHz. We present the first results from the experiment by discussing two 4-h intervals of data collected over two consecutive nights. During the first of the two days an enhancement of the FDI coherence, which indicates the presence of distinct scattering layers, was found to follow the lower boundary of the PMSE. Indeed, it is not unusual to observe that the coherence values are peaked around the heights corresponding to both the lower- and upper-most boundaries of the PMSE layer and sublayers. A Kelvin-Helmholtz mechanism is offered as one possible explanation for the layering structure. Additionally, our analysis using range-time-pseudocolor plots of signal-to-noise ratios, spectrograms of Doppler velocity, and estimates of the positions of individual scattering layers is shown to be consistent with the proposition that upwardly propagating gravity waves can become steepened near the mesopause.Key words: Ionosphere (polar ionosphere) · Meteorology and Atmospheric Dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics) · Radio Science (Interferometry)

Description: Line-of-sight Doppler velocities from the SuperDARN CUTLASS HF radar pair have been combined to produce the first two-dimensional vector measurements of the convection pattern throughout the ionospheric footprint of a flux transfer event (a pulsed ionospheric flow, or PIF). Very stable and moderate interplanetary magnetic field conditions, along with a preceding prolonged period of northward interplanetary magnetic field, allow a detailed study of the spatial and the temporal evolution of the ionospheric response to magnetic reconnection. The flux tube footprint is tracked for half an hour across six hours of local time in the auroral zone, from magnetic local noon to dusk. The motion of the footprint of the newly reconnected flux tube is compared with the ionospheric convection velocity. Two primary intervals in the PIF's evolution have been determined. For the first half of its lifetime in the radar field of view the phase speed of the PIF is highly variable and the mean speed is nearly twice the ionospheric convection speed. For the final half of its lifetime the phase velocity becomes much less variable and slows down to the ionospheric convection velocity. The evolution of the flux tube in the magnetosphere has been studied using magnetic field, magnetopause and magnetosheath models. The data are consistent with an interval of azimuthally propagating magnetopause reconnection, in a manner consonant with a peeling of magnetic flux from the magnetopause, followed by an interval of anti-sunward convection of reconnected flux tubes.Key words: Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere · ionosphere interactions; plasma convection; solar wind · magnetosphere interactions)

Description: The first meteor radar measurements of meridional winds in the lower thermosphere (about 95 ± 5 km), along four azimuth directions: 0°, 90°E, 180° and 90°W; approximately 2° from the geographic South Pole were made during two observational campaigns: January 19, 1995-January 26, 1996, and November 21, 1996-January 27, 1997. Herein we report analyses of the measurement results, obtained during the first campaign, which cover the whole one-year period, with particular emphasis on the transient nature and seasonal behavior of the main parameters of the intradiurnal wind oscillations. To analyze the data, two complementary methods are used: the well-known periodogram (FFT) technique and the S-transform technique. The most characteristic periods of the intradiurnal oscillations are found to be rather uniformly spread between about 7 h and 12 h. All of these oscillations are westward-propagating with zonal wave number s=1 and their usual duration is confined to several periods. During the austral winter season the oscillations with periods less than 12 h are the most intensive, while during summer season the 12-h oscillations dominate. Lamb waves and internal-gravity wave propagation, non-linear interaction of the short-period tides, excitation in situ of the short period waves may be considered as possible processes which are responsible for intradiurnal wind oscillations in the lower thermosphere over South Pole.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; thermospheric dynamics; waves and tides)

Description: The water mass distribution in northern Fram Strait and over the Yermak Plateau in summer 1997 is described using CTD data from two cruises in the area. The West Spitsbergen Current was found to split, one part recirculated towards the west, while the other part, on entering the Arctic Ocean separated into two branches. The main inflow of Atlantic Water followed the Svalbard continental slope eastward, while a second, narrower, branch stayed west and north of the Yermak Plateau. The water column above the southeastern flank of the Yermak Plateau was distinctly colder and less saline than the two inflow branches. Immediately west of the outer inflow branch comparatively high temperatures in the Atlantic Layer suggested that a part of the extraordinarily warm Atlantic Water, observed in the boundary current in the Eurasian Basin in the early 1990s, was now returning, within the Eurasian Basin, toward Fram Strait. The upper layer west of the Yermak Plateau was cold, deep and comparably saline, similar to what has recently been observed in the interior Eurasian Basin. Closer to the Greenland continental slope the salinity of the upper layer became much lower, and the temperature maximum of the Atlantic Layer was occasionally below  0.5 °C, indicating water masses mainly derived from the Canadian Basin. This implies that the warm pulse of Atlantic Water had not yet made a complete circuit around the Arctic Ocean. The Atlantic Water of the West Spitsbergen Current recirculating within the strait did not extend as far towards Greenland as in the 1980s, leaving a broader passage for waters from the Atlantic and intermediate layers, exiting the Arctic Ocean. A possible interpretation is that the circulation pattern alternates between a strong recirculation of the West Spitsbergen Current in the strait, and a larger exchange of Atlantic Water between the Nordic Seas and the inner parts of the Arctic Ocean.Key words: Oceanography: general (Arctic and Antarctic oceanography; water masses) - Oceanography: physical (general circulation)

Description: Results on heating the ionospheric F region above Tromsø, Norway are presented. The ionosphere was monitored by satellite tomography and amplitude scintillation methods as well as the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar. No effect of heating was observed in the daytime. In the evening and in the pre-midnight sector, noticeable tilts of the F region were observed during heating periods. The tilts overlapped the heating cone, where the electron density decreased and irregularities exceeding 10 km in size appeared. Between the heating periods the F layer was restored to its horizontal shape. The anisotropic parameters of small-scale irregularities with scale lengths of hundreds of metres were also determined. It was found that the perpendicular anisotropy points in the direction of F region plasma flow. In some cases the results can be explained by assuming that the small-scale irregularities were generated within the heating cone and drifted out of the heating region where they were subsequently observed.Key words: Ionosphere (active experiments; auroral ionosphere; ionospheric irregularities)

Description: This work reviews some aspects of the ionospheric F-layer in the vicinity of the geomagnetic equator. Starting with a historical introduction, brief summaries are given of the physics that makes the equatorial ionosphere so interesting, concentrating on the large-scale structure rather than the smaller-scale instability phenomena. Several individual topics are then discussed, including eclipse effects, the asymmetries of the `equatorial trough', variations with longitude, the semiannual variation, the effects of the global thermospheric circulation, and finally the equatorial neutral thermosphere, including `superrotation' and possible topographic influences.Keyword: Ionosphere (equatorial ionosphere)

Description: The implicit time integration scheme of Stott and Harwood (1993) was proposed as an efficient scheme for use in three-dimensional chemical models of the atmosphere. The scheme was designed for chemistry schemes using `chemical families', in which species with short lifetimes are grouped into longer-lived families. Further study with more complex chemistry, more species and reactions showed the scheme to be non-convergent and unstable under certain conditions; particularly for the perturbed chemical scenarios of polar stratospheric winters. In this work the scheme has been improved by revising the treatment of families and the convergence properties of the scheme. The new scheme has been named IMPACT (IMPlicit Algorithm for Chemical Time-stepping). It remains easy to implement and produces simulations that compare well with integrations using more accurate higher order schemes.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (middle atmosphere - composition and chemistry; lioposphere - composition and chemistry; instruments and techniques)

Description: Since the auroral ionosphere provides an important energy sink for the magnetosphere, ionosphere-thermosphere coupling must be investigated when considering the energy budget of the ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling. We present the first Scandinavian ground-based study of high-latitude F-region ion-neutral frictional heating where ion velocity and temperature are measured by the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar as well as neutral wind and temperature being measured simultaneously by a Fabry-Perot interferometer. A geomagnetically active period (Kp = 7– – 5–) and quiet period (Kp = 0+ – 0) were studied. Neglecting the neutral wind can result in errors of frictional heating estimates of 60% or more in the F-layer. About 96% of the local ion temperature enhancement over the neutral temperature is accounted for by ion-neutral frictional heating.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere-atmosphere interactions)

Description: We have determined the MLT distribution and KP dependence of the ion upflow and downflow of the thermal bulk oxygen ion population based on a data analysis using the EISCAT VHF radar CP-7 data obtained at Tromsø during the period between 1990 and 1996: (1) both ion upflow and downflow events can be observed at any local time (MLT), irrespective of dayside and nightside, and under any magnetic disturbance level, irrespective of quiet and disturbed levels; (2) these upflow and downflow events are more frequently observed in the nightside than in the dayside; (3) the upflow events are more frequently observed than the downflow events at any local time except midnight and at any KP level and the difference of the occurrence frequencies between the upflow and downflow events is smaller around midnight; and (4) the occurrence frequencies of both the ion upflow and downflow events appear to increase with increasing KP level, while the occurrence frequency of the downflow appears to stop increasing at some KP level.Key words: Ionosphere (particle acceleration; plasma waves and instabilities) - Space plasma physics (transport processes)

Description: We have analysed a database of ∼300 h of tristatic ionospheric velocity measurements obtained overhead at Tromsø (66.3° magnetic latitude) by the EISCAT UHF radar system, for the presence of flow effects associated with the y-component of the IMF. Since it is already known that the flow depends upon IMF Bz, a least-squares multivariate analysis has been used to determine the flow dependence on both IMF By and Bz simultaneously. It is found that significant flow variations with IMF By occur, predominantly in the midnight sector (∼2100–0300 MLT), but also pre-dusk (∼1600–1700 MLT), which are directed eastward for IMF By positive and westward for IMF By negative. The flows are of magnitude 20–30 m s–1 nT–1 in the midnight sector, and smaller, 10–20 m s–1 nT–1, pre-dusk, and are thus associated with significant changes of flow of order a few hundred m s–1 over the usual range of IMF By of about ±5 nT. At other local times the IMF By-related perturbation flows are much smaller, less than ∼5 m s–1 nT–1, and consistent with zero within the uncertainty estimates. We have investigated whether these IMF By-dependent flows can be accounted for quantitatively by a theoretical model in which the equatorial flow in the inner magnetosphere is independent of IMF By, but where distortions of the magnetospheric magnetic field associated with a "penetrating" component of the IMF By field changes the mapping of the field to the ionosphere, and hence the ionospheric flow. We find that the principal flow perturbation produced by this effect is an east-west flow whose sense is determined by the north-south component of the unperturbed flow. Perturbations in the north-south flow are typically smaller by more than an order of magnitude, and generally negligible in terms of observations. Using equatorial flows which are determined from EISCAT data for zero IMF By, to which the corotation flow has been added, the theory predicts the presence of zonal perturbation flows which are generally directed eastward in the Northern Hemisphere for IMF By positive and westward for IMF By negative at all local times. However, although the day and night effects are therefore similar in principle, the model perturbation flows are much larger on the nightside than on the dayside, as observed, due to the day-night asymmetry in the unperturbed magnetospheric magnetic field. Overall, the model results are found to account well for the observed IMF By-related flow perturbations in the midnight sector, in terms of the sense and direction of the flow, the local time of their occurrence, as well as the magnitude of the flows (provided the magnetic model employed is not too distorted from dipolar form). At other local times the model predicts much smaller IMF By-related flow perturbations, and thus does not account for the effects observed in the pre-dusk sector.Key words: Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere · ionosphere interactions) – Ionosphere (plasma convection; auroral ionosphere)

Description: The field-aligned neutral oscillations in the F-region (altitudes between 165 and 275 km) were compared using data obtained simultaneously with two independent instruments: the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) UHF radar and a scanning Fabry-Perot interferometer (FPI). During the night of February 8, 1997, simultaneous observations with these instruments were conducted at Tromsø, Norway. Theoretically, the field-aligned neutral wind velocity can be obtained from the field-aligned ion velocity and by diffusion and ambipolar diffusion velocities. We thus derived field-aligned neutral wind velocities from the plasma velocities in EISCAT radar data. They were compared with those observed with the FPI (λ=630.0 nm), which are assumed to be weighted height averages of the actual neutral wind. The weighting function is the normalized height dependent emission rate. We used two model weighting functions to derive the neutral wind from EISCAT data. One was that the neutral wind velocity observed with the FPI is velocity integrated over the entire emission layer and multiplied by the theoretical normalized emission rate. The other was that the neutral wind velocity observed with the FPI corresponds to the velocity only around an altitude where the emission rate has a peak. Differences between the two methods were identified, but not completely clarified. However, the neutral wind velocities from both instruments had peak-to-peak correspondences at oscillation periods of about 10–40 min, shorter than that for the momentum transfer from ions to neutrals, but longer than from neutrals to ions. The synchronizing motions in the neutral wind velocities suggest that the momentum transfer from neutrals to ions was thought to be dominant for the observed field-aligned oscillations rather than the transfer from ions to neutrals. It is concluded that during the observation, the plasma oscillations observed with the EISCAT radar at different altitudes in the F-region are thought to be due to the motion of neutrals.Key words: Ionosphere (Ionosphere–atmosphere interactions) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (thermospheric dynamics; waves and tides)

Description: Measurements of midlatitude E region coherent backscatter obtained during four summers with SESCAT, a 50 MHz Doppler system operating in Crete, Greece, and concurrent ionosonde recordings from the same ionospheric volume obtained with a CADI for one of these summers, are used to analyse the long-term variability in echo and Es occurrence. Echo and Es layer occurrences, computed in percent of time over a 12-h nighttime interval, take the form of time sequences. Linear power spectrum analysis shows that there are dominant spectral peaks in the range of 2–9 days, the most commonly observed periods appearing in two preferential bands, of 2–3 days and 4–7 days. No connection with geomagnetic activity was found. The characteristics of these periodicities compare well with similar properties of planetary waves, which suggests the possibility that planetary waves are responsible for the observed long-term periodicities. These findings indicate also a likely close relation between planetary wave (PW) activity and the well known but not well understood seasonal Es dependence. To test the PW postulation, we used simultaneous neutral wind data from the mesopause region around 95 km, measured from Collm, Germany. Direct comparison of the long-term periodicities in echo and Es layer occurrence with those in the neutral wind show some reasonable agreement. This new evidence, although not fully conclusive, is the first direct indication in favour of a planetary wave role on the unstable midlatitude E region ionosphere. Our results suggest that planetary waves observation is a viable option and a new element into the physics of midlatitude Es layers that needs to be considered and investigated.Key words: Ionosphere (ionosphere irregularities; mid-latitude ionosphere) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (waves and tides)

Description: Early auroral observations recorded in various oriental histories are examined in order to search for examples of strictly simultaneous and indisputably independent observations of the aurora borealis from spatially separated sites in East Asia. In the period up to ad 1700, only five examples have been found of two or more oriental auroral observations from separate sites on the same night. These occurred during the nights of ad 1101 January 31, ad 1138 October 6, ad 1363 July 30, ad 1582 March 8 and ad 1653 March 2. The independent historical evidence describing observations of mid-latitude auroral displays at more than one site in East Asia on the same night provides virtually incontrovertible proof that auroral displays actually occurred on these five special occasions. This conclusion is corroborated by the good level of agreement between the detailed auroral descriptions recorded in the different oriental histories, which furnish essentially compatible information on both the colour (or colours) of each auroral display and its approximate position in the sky. In addition, the occurrence of auroral displays in Europe within two days of auroral displays in East Asia, on two (possibly three) out of these five special occasions, suggests that a substantial number of the mid-latitude auroral displays recorded in the oriental histories are associated with intense geomagnetic storms.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; storms and substorms)

Description: The history of the development of the wind-profiling or MST radar technique is reviewed from its inception in the late 1960s to the present. Extensions of the technique by the development of boundary-layer radars and the radio-acoustic sounding system (RASS) technique to measure temperature are documented. Applications are described briefly, particularly practical applications to weather forecasting, with data from networks of radars, and scientific applications to the study of rapidly varying atmospheric phenomena such as gravity waves and turbulence.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (instruments and techniques) · Radio science (remote sensing; instruments and techniques)

Description: In usual incoherent scatter data analysis, the plasma distribution function is assumed to be Maxwellian. In space plasmas, however, distribution functions with a high energy tail which can be well modeled by a generalized Lorentzian distribution function with spectral index kappa (kappa distribution) have been observed. We have theoretically calculated incoherent scatter spectra for a plasma that consists of electrons with kappa distribution function and ions with Maxwellian neglecting the effects of the magnetic field and collisions. The ion line spectra have a double-humped shape similar to those from a Maxwellian plasma. The electron temperatures are underestimated, however, by up to 40% when interpreted assuming Maxwellian distribution. Ion temperatures and electron densities are affected little. Accordingly, actual electron temperatures might be underestimated when an energy input maintaining a high energy tail exists. We have also calculated plasma lines with the kappa distribution function. They are enhanced in total strength, and the peak frequencies appear to be slightly shifted to the transmitter frequency compared to the peak frequencies for a Maxwellian distribution. The damping rate depends on the electron temperature. For lower electron temperatures, plasma lines for electrons with a κ distribution function are more strongly damped than for a Maxwellian distribution. For higher electron temperatures, however, they have a relatively sharp peak.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; plasma waves and instabilities) – Space plasma physics (kinetic and MHD theory)

Description: SPEAR is a new polar cap HF radar facility which is to be deployed on Svalbard. The principal capabilities of SPEAR will include the generation of artificial plasma irregularities, operation as an 'all-sky' HF radar, the excitation of ULF waves, and remote sounding of the magnetosphere. Operation of SPEAR in conjunction with the multitude of other instruments on Svalbard, including the EISCAT Svalbard radar, and the overlap of its extensive field-of-view with that of several of the HF radars in the SuperDARN network, will enable in-depth diagnosis of many geophysical and plasma phenomena associated with the cusp region and the substorm expansion phase. Moreover, its ability to produce artificial radar aurora will provide a means for the other instruments to undertake polar cap plasma physics experiments in a controlled manner. Another potential use of the facility is in 'field-line tagging' experiments, for coordinated ground-satellite experiments. Here the scientific objectives of SPEAR are detailed, along with the proposed technical specifications of the system.Key words: Ionosphere (active experiments) – Radio science (instruments and techniques) – Space plasma physics (instruments and techniques)

Description: In the theory of E-region plasma instabilities, the ambient electric field and electron density gradient are both included in the same dispersion relation as the key parameters that provide the energy for the generation and growth of electrostatic plasma waves. While there exist numerous measurements of ionospheric electric fields, there are very few measurements and limited knowledge about the ambient electron density gradients, ∇Ne, in the E-region plasma. In this work, we took advantage of the EISCAT CP1 data base and studied statistically the vertical electron density gradient length, Lz=Ne/(dNe/dz), at auroral E-region heights during both eastward and westward electrojet conditions and different ambient electric field levels. Overall, the prevailing electron density gradients, with Lz ranging from 4 to 7 km, are found to be located below 100 km, but to move steadily up in altitude as the electric field level increases. The steepest density gradients, with Lz possibly less than 3 km, occur near 110 km mostly in the eastward electrojet during times of strong electric fields. The results and their implications are examined and discussed in the frame of the linear gradient drift instability theory. Finally, it would be interesting to test the implications of the present results with a vertical radar interferometer.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionospheric irregularities; plasma waves and instabilities)  

Description: There are differences between existing models of solar EUV with λ 〈 1050 Å and between laboratory measurements of the O+ + N2 – reaction rate coefficient, both parameters being crucial for the F2-region modeling. Therefore, indirect aeronomic estimates of these parameters may be useful for qualifying the existing EUV models and the laboratory measured O+ + N2 – rate coefficient. A modified self-consistent method for daytime F2-region modeling developed by Mikhailov and Schlegel was applied to EISCAT observations (32 quiet summer and equinoctial days) to estimate the set of main aeronomic parameters. Three laboratory measured temperature dependencies for the O+ + N2 – rate coefficient were used in our calculations to find self-consistent factors both for this rate coefficient and for the solar EUV flux model from Nusinov. Independent of the rate coefficient used, the calculated values group around the temperature dependence recently measured by Hierl et al. in the 850–1400 K temperature range. Therefore, this rate coefficient may be considered as the most preferable and is recommended for aeronomic calculations. The calculated EUV flux shows a somewhat steeper dependence on solar activity than both, the Nusinov and the EUVAC models predict. In practice both EUV models may be recommended for the F2-region electron density calculations with the total EUV flux shifted by ±25% for the EUVAC and Nusinov models, correspondingly.Key words: Ionosphere (ion chemistry and composition; ionosphere atmosphere interactions; modeling and forecasting)

Description: Observations of interplanetary scintillation (IPS) allow accurate solar wind velocity measurements to be made at all heliographic latitudes and at a range of distances from the Sun. The data may be obtained with either single, double or multiple antennas, each requiring a different method of analysis. IPS data taken during the 1998 whole sun month (30th July-31st August 1998) by EISCAT, the ORT (Ooty Radio Telescope), India, and the Nagoya IPS system, Japan, allow the results of individual methods of analysis to be compared. Good agreement is found between the velocity measurements using each method, and when combined an improved understanding of the structure of the solar wind can be obtained.Key words: Interplanetary physics (solar wind plasma; sources of the solar wind) - Solar physics, astrophysics and astronomy (instruments and techniques)

Description: In this work, solar flare energetic particle fluxes (Ee ≥ 42 keV) observed by the HI-SCALE instrument onboard Ulysses, a spacecraft that is probing the heliosphere in 3-D, are utilized as diagnostics of the large-scale structure and topology of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) embedded within two well-identified interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) structures. On the basis of the energetic solar flare particle observations firm conclusions are drawn on whether the detected ICMEs have been detached from the solar corona or are still magnetically anchored to it when they arrive at 2.5 AU. From the development of the angular distributions of the particle intensities, we have inferred that portions of the ICMEs studied consisted of both open and closed magnetic field lines. Both ICMEs present a filamentary structure comprising magnetic filaments with distinct electron anisotropy characteristics. Subsequently, we studied the evolution of the anisotropies of the energetic electrons along the magnetic field loop-like structure of one ICME and computed the characteristic decay time of the anisotropy which is a measure of the amount of scattering that the trapped electron population underwent after injection at the Sun.Key words: Interplanetary physics (energetic particles; interplanetary magnetic fields)

Description: On August 21st 1998, a sharp southward turning of the IMF, following on from a 20 h period of northward directed magnetic field, resulted in an isolated substorm over northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. A combination of high time resolution and large spatial scale measurements from an array of coherent scatter and incoherent scatter ionospheric radars, ground magnetometers and the Polar UVI imager has allowed the electrodynamics of the impulsive substorm electrojet region during its first few minutes of evolution at the expansion phase onset to be studied in great detail. At the expansion phase onset the substorm onset region is characterised by a strong enhancement of the electron temperature and UV aurora. This poleward expanding auroral structure moves initially at 0.9 km s-1 poleward, finally reaching a latitude of 72.5°. The optical signature expands rapidly westwards at ~6 km s-1, whilst the eastward edge also expands eastward at ~0.6 km s-1. Typical flows of 600 m s-1 and conductances of 2 S were measured before the auroral activation, which rapidly changed to ~100 m s-1 and 10-20 S respectively at activation. The initial flow response to the substorm expansion phase onset is a flow suppression, observed up to some 300 km poleward of the initial region of auroral luminosity, imposed over a time scale of less than 10 s. The high conductivity region of the electrojet acts as an obstacle to the flow, resulting in a region of low-electric field, but also low conductivity poleward of the high-conductivity region. Rapid flows are observed at the edge of the high-conductivity region, and subsequently the high flow region develops, flowing around the expanding auroral feature in a direction determined by the flow pattern prevailing before the substorm intensification. The enhanced electron temperatures associated with the substorm-disturbed region extended some 2° further poleward than the UV auroral signature associated with it.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere) - Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere - ionosphere interactions; storms and substorms)

Description: On the basis of bispectral analysis applied to the hourly data set of neutral wind measured by meteor radar in the MLT region above Bulgaria it was demonstrated that nonlinear processes are frequently and regularly acting in the mesopause region. They contribute significantly to the short-term tidal variability and are apparently responsible for the observed complicated behavior of the tidal characteristics. A Morlet wavelet transform is proposed as a technique for studying nonstationary signals. By simulated data it was revealed that the Morlet wavelet transform is especially convenient for analyzing signals with: (1) a wide range of dominant frequencies which are localized in different time intervals; (2) amplitude and frequency modulated spectral components, and (3) singular, wave-like events, observed in the neutral wind of the MLT region and connected mainly with large-scale disturbances propagated from below. By applying a Morlet wavelet transform to the hourly values of the amplitudes of diurnal and semidiurnal tides the basic oscillations with periods of planetary waves (1.5-20 days), as well as their development in time, are obtained. A cross-wavelet analysis is used to clarify the relation between the tidal and mean neutral wind variability. The results of bispectral analysis indicate which planetary waves participated in the nonlinear coupling with the atmospheric tides, while the results of cross-wavelet analysis outline their time intervals if these interactions are local.Key words: Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (middle atmosphere dynamics; waves and tides) - Radio science (nonlinear phenomena)

Description: HF radar data during equinoctial, small IMF By conditions have enabled the ionospheric convection during the substorm growth phase and substorm pseudobreakup to be studied in both hemispheres. This has revealed both conjugate and non-conjugate convection behaviour during the substorm growth phase before and after the pseudobreakup onset. The nightside convection pattern is found to respond promptly to the southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) which impacts on the dusk flank of the magnetosphere due to an inclined phase front in the IMF in the case study presented. The subsequent interhemispheric observations of nightside convection are controlled by the IMF By polarity. The time scale for the response to changes in the IMF By component is found to be a little longer than for Bz, and the full impact of the IMF By is not apparent in the nightside convection until after substorm pseudobreakup has occurred. The pseudobreakup itself is found to result in a transitory suppression in the ionospheric electric field in both hemispheres. This flow suppression is very similar to that observed in HF radar observations of full substorm onset, with the exception of a lack of subsequent poleward expansion.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere) - Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions; storms and substorms)

Description: Using the Equator-S spacecraft and SuperDARN HF radars an extensive survey of bursty reconnection at the magnetopause and associated flows in the polar ionosphere has been conducted. Flux transfer event (FTE) signatures were identified in the Equator-S magnetometer data during periods of magnetopause contact in January and February 1998. Assuming the effects of the FTEs propagate to the polar ionosphere as geomagnetic field-aligned-currents and associated Alfvén-waves, appropriate field mappings to the fields-of-view of SuperDARN radars were performed. The radars observed discrete ionospheric flow channel events (FCEs) of the type previously assumed to be related to pulse reconnection. Such FCEs were associated with \sim80% of the FTEs and the two signatures are shown to be statistically associated with greater than 99% confidence. Exemplary case studies highlight the nature of the ionospheric flows and their relation to the high latitude convection pattern, the association methodology, and the problems caused by instrument limitations.Key words: Ionosphere (polar ionosphere) · Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction; solar wind-magnetosphere interactions)

Description: The "Étude et Simulation de la QUalité de l'air en Ile de France" (ESQUIF) project is the first integrated project dedicated to the study of the processes leading to air pollution events over the Paris area. The project was carried out over two years (summer 1998 to winter 2000) to document all types of meteorological conditions favourable to air quality degradation, and in particular to photo oxydant formation. The goals of ESQUIF are (1) to improve our understanding of the relevant chemical and dynamical processes and, in turn, improve their parametrizations in numerical models, and (2) to improve and validate existing models dedicated to pollution analysis, scenarios and/or forecasting, by establishing a comprehensive and thorough database. We present the rationale of the ESQUIF project and we describe the experimental set-up. We also report on the first experiments which took place during the summer of 1998 involving surface networks, and remote sensing instruments as well as several aircraft. Focusing on three days of August 1998, the relative contributions of long-range transported and locally-produced ozone to the elevated ozone concentrations observed during this period are discussed and chemistry-transport model preliminary results on this period are compared to measurements.Key words: Atmospheric composition and structure (pollution – urban and regional; troposphere – composition and chemistry) – Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (mesoscale meteorology)

Description: There are recent observational indications (lack of convergent electric field signatures above the auroral oval at 4 RE altitude) that the U-shaped potential drop model for auroral acceleration is not applicable in all cases. There is nevertheless much observational evidence favouring the U-shaped model at low altitudes, i.e., in the acceleration region and below. To resolve the puzzle we propose that there is a negative O-shaped potential well which is maintained by plasma waves pushing the electrons into the loss cone and up an electron potential energy hill at ~3-4RE altitude range. We present a test particle simulation which shows that when the wave energization is modelled by random parallel boosts, introducing an O-shaped potential increases the precipitating energy flux because the electrons can stay in the resonant velocity range for a longer time if a downward electric field decelerates the electrons at the same time when waves accelerate them in the parallel direction. The lower part of the O-shaped potential well is essentially the same as in the U-shaped model. The electron energization comes from plasma waves in this model, but the final low-altitude fluxes are produced by electrostatic acceleration. Thus, the transfer of energy from waves to particles takes places in an "energization region", which is above the acceleration region. In the energization region the static electric field points downward while in the acceleration region it points upward. The model is compatible with the large body of low-altitude observations supporting the U-shaped model while explaining the new observations of the lack of electric field at high altitude.Key words: Ionosphere (ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; particle acceleration) - Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena)

Description: Observations by the EISCAT Svalbard radar in summer have revealed electron density enhancements in the magnetic noon sector under conditions of IMF Bz southward. The features were identified as possible candidates for polar-cap patches drifting anti-Sunward with the plasma flow. Supporting measurements by the EISCAT mainland radar, the CUTLASS radar and DMSP satellites, in a multi-instrument study, suggested that the origin of the structures lay upstream at lower latitudes, with the modulation in density being attributed to variability in soft-particle precipitation in the cusp region. It is proposed that the variations in precipitation may be linked to changes in the location of the reconnection site at the magnetopause, which in turn results in changes in the energy distribution of the precipitating particles.Key words: Ionosphere (ionosphere-magnetosphere interactions; plasma temperature and density; polar ionosphere)

Description: Ionosphere-magnetosphere disturbances at high latitudes, e.g. magnetic substorms, are accompanied by energetic particle precipitation and strong variations of the ionospheric electric fields and currents. These might reasonably be expected to modify the local atmospheric electric circuit. We have analysed air-earth vertical currents (AECs) measured by a long wire antenna at Esrange, northern Sweden during 35 geomagnetic substorms. Using superposed epoch analysis we compare the air-earth current variations during the 3 h before and after the time of the magnetic X-component minimum with those for corresponding local times on 35 days without substorms. After elimination of the average daily variation we can conclude that the effect of substorms on AEC is small but distinguishable. It is speculated that the AEC increases observed during about 2 h prior to the geomagnetic X-component minimum, are due to enhancement of the ionospheric electric field. During the subsequent 2 h of the substorm recovery phase, the difference between "substorm" and "quiet" atmospheric currents decreases. The amplitude of this "substorm" variation of AEC is estimated to be less than 50% of the amplitude of the diurnal variation in AEC during the same time interval. The statistical significance of this result was confirmed using the Van der Waerden X-test. This method was further used to show that the average air-earth current and its fluctuations increase during late expansion and early recovery phases of substorms.Key words: Ionosphere (electric fields and currents) · Magnetospheric physics (storms and substorms) · Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (atmospheric electricity)

Description: Three models for the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling feedback instability are considered. The first model is based on demagnetization of hot ions in the plasma sheet. The instability takes place in the global magnetosphere-ionosphere system when magnetospheric electrons drift through a spatial gradient of hot magnetospheric ion population. Such a situation exists on the inner and outer edges of the plasma sheet where relatively cold magnetospheric electrons move earthward through a radial gradient of hot ions. This leads to the formation of field-aligned currents. The effect of upward field-aligned current on particle precipitation and the magnitude of ionospheric conductivity leads to the instability of this earthward convection and to its division into convection streams oriented at some angle with respect to the initial convection direction. The growth rate of the instability is maximum for structures with sizes less than the ion Larmor radius in the equatorial plane. This may lead to formation of auroral arcs with widths about 10 km. This instability explains many features of such arcs, including their conjugacy in opposite hemispheres. However, it cannot explain the very high growth rates of some auroral arcs and very narrow arcs. For such arcs another type of instability must be considered. In the other two models the instability arises because of the generation of Alfven waves from growing arc-like structures in the ionospheric conductivity. One model is based on the modulation of precipitating electrons by field-aligned currents of the upward moving Alfven wave. The other model takes into consideration the reflection of Alfven waves from a maximum in the Alfven velocity at an altitude of about 3000 km. The growth of structures in both models takes place when the ionization function associated with upward field-aligned current is shifted from the edges of enhanced conductivity structures toward their centers. Such a shift arises because the structures move at a velocity different from the E×B drift. Although both models may work, the growth rate for the model, based on the modulation of the precipitating accelerated electrons, is significantly larger than that of the model based on the Alfven wave reflection. This mechanism is suitable for generation of auroral arcs with widths of about 1 km and less. The growth rate of the instability can be as large as 1 s-1, and this mechanism enables us to justify the development of auroral arcs only in one ionosphere. It is hardly suitable for excitation of wide and conjugate auroral arcs, but it may be responsible for the formation of small-scale structures inside a wide arc.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere) - Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions)  

Description: Strong wind shears may result in dynamic instability, often characterised by the Richardson number lying between zero and 0.25. The extent to which electric-field driven ion flow may induce such neutral wind shears is examined. Further, it is proposed that, in the ionosphere, it is possible for electric fields to drive ion winds such that the collisionally induced neutral air response may be comparable to viscous damping of neutral motion. We shall present an analogy to the Reynolds Number Re to quantify this effect. In the same way that Re may be used to evaluate the likelihood of a flow being turbulent, the analagous metric may also indicate where in the atmosphere plasma dynamics may be strong enough to destabilise the neutral dynamics.Key words: Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionosphere-atmosphere interactions) - Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (turbulence)