Equion, an equatorial ionospheric irregularity experiment

Abstract

This paper describes a coordinated rocket and ground‐based study to investigate equatorial spread F irregularities. Measurements by the Jicamarca backscatter radar, ionosondes, and airglow instrumentation and of radio scintillations were correlated with high spatial resolution measurements of electron densities, particle fluxes, and VLF‐ELF fields from a rocket probe. Experimentally, we find that (1) very high positive and negative electron density gradients are responsible for the enhanced radar echoes, (2) energetic particles are not part of the spread F phenomena, (3) wave measurements are strongly correlated with the Doppler character of the radar signals, and (4) there is a one‐to‐one correspondence of the large‐scale irregularities responsible for scintillations of satellite radio transmissions and ionosonde spread echoes with the small‐scale irregularities responsible for the backscatter of VHF radar signals. We present and discuss the implications of the data.