Day-to-day variability of midlatitude F region in winter

Abstract

A study is made of the day-to-day variability of midlatitude F region during winter daytime conditions, using total electron content (TEC) measurements at Auckland and Invercargill and peak density measurements at Auckland and Christchurch covering the period June 1965-Dec. 1974. It is found that there exist significant positive correlations of mean daytime TEC and peak density at Auckland with auroral electrojet (AE) (and also Kp), with mean delays of 4 and 10 hr. There is also a significant positive correlation of mean daytime TEC at Invercargill with AE (and also Kp), with a delay of 4 hr. These features which are noticed consistently for several winters suggest a role of meridional neutral wind associated with perturbations of energy input into the auroral zones in the day-to-day variability of midlatitude F region.