edu.ucar.opensky::articles:6743 UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact 2025-12-26T15:35:09.256772 ISO 19115-2 Geographic Information - Metadata - Part 2: Extensions for Imagery and Gridded Data ISO 19115-2:2009(E) https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d74t6jmm An analysis of the scale heights in the lower topside ionosphere based on the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar measurements 2007-06-12T00:00:00Z publication https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d74t6jmm https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JA012250 Liu, L. author Le, H. author Wan, W. author Sulzer, M. author Lei, Jiuhou author Zhang, M. author UCAR/NCAR - Library publisher We statistically analyze the ionospheric scale heights in the lower topside ionosphere based on the electron density (N e) and temperature profiles observed from the incoherent scatter radar (ISR) at Arecibo (293.2°E, 18.3°N), Puerto Rico. In this study, a database containing the Arecibo ISR observations from 1966 to 2002 has been used in order to investigate the diurnal and seasonal variations and solar activity dependences of the vertical scale height (VSH), which is deduced from the electron concentration profiles defined as the value of −dh/d(ln(N e)), and the effective scale height (H m), which is defined as the scale height in the Chapman-α function to approximate the N e profiles. As a measure of the slope of the height profiles of the topside electron density, the derived VSH and H m show marked diurnal and seasonal variations and solar activity dependences. Their features are discussed in terms of thermal structures in the lower topside ionosphere. We also investigate the quantitative relationships between H m, VSH, and plasma scale height (H p) over Arecibo. The similarities and differences in these scale heights are discussed. Results suggest that both the contributions from topside temperature structure and diffusion processes can also greatly control VSH and H m through changing the profile shape. UCAR/NCAR - Library OpenSky Support PO Box 3000 Boulder CO 80307-3000 opensky@ucar.edu http://opensky.ucar.edu/ homepage pointOfContact PDF Text theme Resource Type 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z publication Copyright 2007 American Geophysical Union. None eng geoscientificInformation