C. Amory-Mazaudier

Nighttime morphology of vertical plasma drifts at Ouagadougou during different seasons and phases of sunspot cycles 20-22

The nighttime morphology of vertical plasma drift (V d) inferred from ground-based measurements of the F layer height at Ouagadougou (12.4°N, 358.6°E) in the African Equatorial Ionization Anomaly trough was investigated. The observation covers four seasons, four sunspot cycle phases, annual, and 11 year sunspot cycle (SC) variations of the SCs 20–22 spanning 1966–1998 and a first attempt of such study. The annual mean peak magnitudes of V d during the prereversal enhancement (PRE) and minimum reversal periods exhibit the 11 year sunspot cycle evolution with the sunspot number (Rz). The PRE peak/Rz and reversal peak/Rz relationships are 98.7% and 84.8%, respectively. PRE peak in June solstice appears 1 h later than for other seasons and is attributed to a decrease in the equatorial zonal wind/conductivity gradient. The highest PRE magnitude and downward perturbation drifts near dusk appear during the equinoxes and lowest in June solstice for all cycles. There is semiannual asymmetry in the variation of V d during all cycles of the PRE event with peaks in March and September/October. A remarkable feature is the consistent local presunrise drift enhancement for two SCs 20 and 21, which is not a regular feature of the equatorial ionosphere. The rate of inhibition of scintillation effect increases with decreasing phase of sunspot activity and maximizes during the solstices. Both the PRE and minimum reversal peak magnitudes are influenced by the phase of sunspot cycle. Ouagadougou data in this study had shown reliable drift characteristics and can be integrated into the African regional empirical drift model.

foF2 long‐term trend linked to Earth's magnetic field secular variation at a station under the northern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly

Long-term trend of the critical frequency of the F 2 ionospheric region, f o F 2 , at Phu Thuy station (21.03°N, 105.96°E), Vietnam, located under the northern crest of the equatorial ionization anomaly, EIA, is studied. Annual mean data are analyzed at 04 LT and 12 LT for the period 1962–2002 using monthly median values and monthly mean values during magnetically quiet days (am < 20). In both cases we obtain similar trends at 4 LT and 12 LT, which we interpret as an absence of geomagnetic activity effect over trends. The positive trends obtained are not consistent with the negative values expected from greenhouse gases effect at this layer of the upper atmosphere. The increasing trend observed at 12 LT is qualitatively in agreement with the expected effect of the secular displacement of the dip equator over the EIA latitudinal profile. At 04 LT, when the EIA is absent, the positive trend is in qualitative agreement with the secular variation of the Earths magnetic field inclination, I, and the consequent increase of the sin(I)cos(I) factor at the corresponding location.