F region east-west drifts at Jicamarca

Abstract

F region east-west drifts have been measured at Jicamarca for almost 10 years, using incoherent scatter. The drifts are westward during the day and eastward at night. The daytime drift velocities are about 50 m/s and change very little with season or solar cycle. The evening reversal occurs at about 1600 local time throughout the solar cycle. The maximum nighttime eastward drifts are about 105 and 130 m/s during solar minimum and maximum, respectively. The daytime and nighttime drifts show very litle variation with magnetic activity. These Jicamarca incoherent scatter results (especially the reversal times) differ appreciably from results obtained using other techniques, but there appear to be fairly simple explanations for the apparent disagreements.