Simultaneous observations of meteors and the equatorial electrojet at Jicamarca
Chapin, Elaine
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/20558
Description
Title
Simultaneous observations of meteors and the equatorial electrojet at Jicamarca
Author(s)
Chapin, Elaine
Issue Date
1996
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Kudeki, Erhan
Department of Study
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Discipline
Electrical Engineering
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Geophysics
Engineering, Electronics and Electrical
Language
eng
Abstract
Observations of meteor echoes at Jicamarca in August of 1990, 1991, and 1992 reveal some unusual properties. The echo durations are very long ($\sim$2 s to 3 minutes), radio wave scattering is non-specular (echoes are detected simultaneously over an $\sim$10 to 15 km altitude range centered about 97 km), and the Doppler spectra of the scattered signals contain components shifted by as much as $\sim$400 ms$\sp{{-}1}$ immediately after the onset of the echoes. These unusual properties are attributed to the growth and propagation of plasma irregularities along meteor trails deposited within the equatorial electrojet. It is suggested that trails at electrojet heights must carry intense transient currents that excite two-stream and/or gradient drift instabilities for irregularity growth. The direction of electron motion responsible for the transient current agrees with the Doppler shift of the high-frequency components in meteor echo signals. Nighttime Jicamarca electrojet data with simultaneous meteor observations are studied in detail and compared with the plasma irregularity explanation.
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