IonosphericElectrodynamics' A Tutorial

A.D.

Richmond

High Altitude Observatory,National Center for AtmosphericResearch,Boulder, Colorado

J. P. Thayer
Geoscienceand Engineering Center, SRI International, Menlo Park, California

This paper gives a tutorial overview of ionosphericelectrodynamics,including the observedbehavior of ionosphericelectric fields and currents, the
physics of ionospheric electrical conductivity and Ohm's law, the operation
of the ionosphericwind dynamo, and the transfer of energybetweenthe magnetosphereand the ionosphere. The ionosphereforms an important part of
the magnetosphericelectrodynamicsystem. It is a region where ion-neutral
collisionscauseions and electronsto move at different velocitiesacrossmagnetic field lines, thereby violating the frozen-in flux condition and resulting
in significantflow of ohmic current. Ionosphericconductivity is a function
of the geomagneticfield, the plasma density, and the collisionrate. Neutral
winds cause generation of electric current through a dynamo effect. The
winds result from diurnally varying solar heating, from upward-propagating
global atmospheric waves, and from the Ampere force and Joule heating
resulting from the electric current flow. Electromagneticenergy flow is normally directed from the magnetosphereinto the ionosphere,as can be evaluated with the aid of Poynting's theorem, but strong thermosphericwinds
can sometimesreversethe direction of this energy flow.
INTRODUCTION

currents result in significant momentum transfer between the ionosphereand the magnetosphere. ImporThe ionosphereis an electrically conductingmedium,
tant amountsof electromagneticenergy are also transand carries a substantial portion of the electrical curferred between the magnetosphereand the ionosphere
rent flowingin the Earth's spaceenvironment. It forms
by the electric fields and currents, leading to dissipaa critical part of the global magnetosphericcurrent systion of magnetosphericenergy and to heating of the uptem, providing a closure path for geomagnetic-fieldper atmosphere. The ionosphereis a region where the
aligned currents that extend to the outer magnetofrozen-influx approximationof magnetohydrodynamics
sphere. The magnetic stressesassociated with these
breaks down, owing to collisionsbetween charged and
neutral particles. It is alsothe seat of current generation
producedby the dynamo effect of winds in the thermosphere, at altitudes above about 90 km. Those winds
are producednot only by solar heating and by upwardMagnetosphericCurrent Systems
propagating global atmospheric waves like tides, but
GeophysicalMonograph118
they are also produced through the Ampere force and
Copyright2000by theAmericanGeophysical
Union

131

132 IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL

currents and electric fields at all latitudes are coupled.

Becausethe Sun is ultimately responsiblenot only for
the ionosphericconductivity but also for the drivers of
ionosphericcurrents, the patterns of electric potential
and current tend to be organized in a coordinate sys-

tem of magneticlocal time (MLT) and magneticlatitude. As the Earth rotates, there is therefore a daily
variation in the direction and strength of currentsand

electricfieldsover any given location on the ground.

At high latitudes the ionosphericcurrents are joined
with currentsflowingalonggeomagneticfield linesinto
the magnetosphere,and the electrodynamicsis dominated by the influencesof magnetosphericprocesses.
The total current flow is on the order of 107 A. At mid-

latitudes much of the ionosphericcurrent is generated

by the ionosphericwind dynamo, which on the average

producesglobal current vorticeson the daysideof the

Earth, counterclockwise
in the northernhemisphereand
clockwisein the southernhemisphere. The total current
flow in each vortex is on the order of 105 A. The two
hemispheresare electrically coupledby currentsflowing

Figure 1. Schematicof global ionosphericelectric currents

(ribbons with arrows) and electric potentials (d- and-),
viewed from the day side of the Earth.

the Joule heating exerted on the medium by the current itself. There is thereforean interestingmutual coupling between the currents and the winds. This paper
presentsa tutorial overviewof the phenomenologyand
physical processesassociated with ionospheric electric
fields and currents.

DESCRIPTION
FIELDS

OF
AND

GLOBAL

ELECTRIC

CURRENTS

Figure 1 sketchesthe global ionosphericcurrentsand

electric potential, with the currents illustrated by ribbonsand the potential with q- and-. (On globalscales,
the ionosphericelectric field is essentially a potential
field for phenomenathat vary on time scaleslongerthan
a minute or so, which are the only phenomenaconsidered in this paper.) The Earth's main magneticfield
has a dominant influence on the ionosphericconductivity and on the flow of current between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. Electric fields and currents
are thereforestronglyorganizedwith respectto the geomagnetic field. For convenience,currents at high magnetic

latitudes

and those

at middle

and low latitudes

are often consideredseparately,although in reality the

alonggeomagneticfield lines wheneverthere is an imbalancein the dynamoforcingbetweenthe hemispheres.

Near the magneticequatorthere is a substantialinten-

sification
of the eastwardcurrentknownasthe equatorial electrojet, which is associatedwith the highly
anisotropicconductivity of the ionosphereand the presenceof a nearly horizontal geomagneticfield.
There are strong electric fields at high latitudes, on
the order of severaltens of millivolts per meter or more,
associatedwith the magnetosphericallyproducedcurrents. On the average, these electric fields are represented by an electric potential having a high on the
morning side of the polar region and a low on the
evening side, with a total potential drop that ranges
from 20 kV to 200 kV. Figure 2 showsa specificexample of the high-latitude potential pattern in the northern hemisphere.Both the pattern and the strength of

the high-latitudepotential pattern have beenfound to

depend strongly on the direction and strength of the
interplanetarymagneticfield (IMF).
At middle

and low latitudes

electric

fields are con-

siderably smaller, typically a few millivolts per meter

during
magnetically
quietperiods.
Alongthemagnetic
equatorthere is a potential high arounddawn and a low
around dusk, with a total potential drop on the order
of 7 kV. At midlatitudes the MLT of the potential high
and low tend to shift more toward eveningand midday,
respectively.
The quiet-daygeomagneticvariationsassociatedwith
the overhead ionospheric currents have traditionally

RICHMOND

1992 JAN 28 01:15 lyr

ly
Bz-

12

currents and their associated

PO'INTIAL

6.1.-6.4

91 IcY

/
/

18

/
\

50 mV/m

/
/

con-

associatedonly partly with overhead ionospheric currents, since a substantial portion comesfrom more distant magnetosphericcurrents like the ring current and
field-alignedcurrents. Figure 3 showsan example as-

sembledby Fejer [1990]of a two-dayperiodwith some

disturbances. Negative excursionsof the Bz component of the IMF correspondwell with the periods of au-

field.

JANUARY

1984

500

Figure 2. Electric potential in the northern hemispheric

polar region estimated from ion velocitiesmeasuredby two
Defense MeteorologicalSatellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft, whose data are labeled 09 and 10, as well as from
numerous ground magnetometers, on 1992 January 28, at
0115 UT. The coordinatesare magnetic latitude, from 50
to the pole, and magnetic local time, with local noon at the
top. The contour interval is 10 kV, with dashed lines indicate regionswhere the uncertainty in the large-scaleelectric
field exceeds50%. The potential high and low are marked
by + and-, respectively,and combinefor a total potential
drop of 91 kV. The measured ion velocities are multiplied
here by the magnetic field strength in order to give magniof electric

electric fields exhibit

siderable day-to-day variability, even on magnetically

quiet days, that is believed to be causedby day-to-day
variability in the thermospheric winds that drive the
ionosphericdynamo.
During magnetic storms the global ionosphericelectric fields and currents and their associated magnetic

18-19

in units

133

roral disturbancesin the AU/AL indices. The largest

09
O0

tudes

THAYER

variationsincreasein magnitude,and exhibit rapid fluctuations. The disturbed magnetic perturbations are
06

AND

The

electric-field

-500

toIMF
IJ'

-IO

""

HUANCAYO
IO0

- 50-

directions

are rotated 90 clockwisefrom the displayed vectors. From

'

Lu et al. [1994].

JICAMARCA

'

beencalledSq,S for solar(asopposed

to a muchsmaller
lunar magneticvariation), and q for quiet-day. At middle latitudes they have magnitudes on the order of 30
nT. The associatedionospheric currents are called the

-I-

O0

08

16

itude. The $q magneticvariationsat solar maximum

are nearly twice as large as at solar minimum, due primarily to increasedionosphericconductivity but also to
stronger upper atmospheric winds at solar maximum.
The variations under the equatorial electrojet are more
than a factor of two larger than those at other stations,
and are larger at equinoxthan at either of the solstices.
The magnitudes of the variations at midlatitudes are

larger in the summerthan in the winter. Both the $q

OO

08

16

'

O0

U.T.

$q currents. The centersof-the current vorticesseen

in Figure 1 lie around 30 north or south magnetic lat-

Figure 3. Interplanetary, auroral, and equatorial electrodynamic features on 1984 January 18-19. MLT is approx-

imately UT-

5 hours. The AU/AL indices are obtained

by superposingauroral-zone magnetograms. The IMF Bz

component was measured by the IMP-8 spacecraft in the
solar wind. The magnetogram from Huancayo, under the
equatorial electrojet, is referencedto the average quiet-day
variation (the smoothline). The eastwardelectricfield over
the Jicamarca

incoherent-scatter

radar

is also referenced

to

the averagequiet-day variation (smooth curve). The small

circlesare at local midnight. From Fejer et al. [1990].

134 IONOSPHERIC ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL
IONOSPHERIC

equatorialelectric-fielddisturbancesmeasuredat Jicamarca occurredat night, between23 UT on January 18

and 11 UT on January 19. Becausethe overheadionosphericconductivityis very small at night, the night-

CONDUCTIVITY

ELECTRICAL

AND

OHM'S

LAW

In order to understand the physics of ionospheric

electrodynamics,it is essentialto understandthe natime electric-field disturbances do not show up on the
ture of ionospheric conductivity. Three elements are
Huancayomagnetogram,which sensesrather only the
critical for determining the conductivity: the plasma
effectsof distant magnetosphericcurrents.
density, the geomagneticfield, and the rate at which
The ionosphericelectric field E is essentiallyperpenthe chargedparticles collide with neutral atmospheric
dicular to the geomagneticfield B, and at middle and
molecules.Figure 4a showstypical midlatitude density
high latitudesit is approximatelyconstantin altitude. profilesof atmosphericneutral moleculesand of charged
The electric current density J, however,varies strongly
particles;for the latter, the densitiesof electronsand
with altitude throughthe ionosphere.Plate 1 illustrates
singly-chargedpositive ions are essentiallythe same.
the height and time variationsof the componentof J
Note that the neutral density exceedsthe plasma denperpendicularto B, between100 km and 130 km altisity by severalordersof magnitudeat all heights.The
tude, for a four-hour period on 1997 March 25, mea- neutral constituents and their dynamics are obviously
suredby the Sondrestromradar (74.2 magneticlatigoingto havea major impact on the plasmadynamics.
tude). Details of how the electrodynamicparameters
Let us examine the mean motion of the chargedparare derived from the monostatic radar are provided by
ticles in the frame of referenceof the neutral gas. The
Thayer[1998a].The electric-fieldvectoris alsoshown main forcesacting on a chargedparticle are the Lorentz
in the inset for one particular time, alongwith idealized force and the frictional forces due to collisions with
current vectors calculated

at three altitudes

as outlined

in the next section(the idealizedcurrentvectorsare different from the measured values of J in that the former

are computedneglectingthe effectsof winds and height

variations of electron density). When E is strong, J
tends to be approximately parallel to E at high altitudes, but the two vectorstend to becomemore nearly
perpendicular at 100 kin.
Also shown in Plate I is the Joule heating ra.te per
unit volume. Joule heating can contribute significantly
to the energybudget of the thermosphereat high latitudes, at times exceedingthe heating producedby so-

lar insolation[Banks,1977]. The Jouleheatingrate is

structured in altitude owing to the influenceof heightvarying winds and conductivities.It peaks around 120
km in this example, and is closelytied to the peak in
current density. The rate of local thermospherictemperature changedue to Joule heating is more directly
related to the heatingrate per unit mass,that is, to the
heatingrate per unit volumedividedby the massden-

sity. For example,at 125km an estimateof the neutral

temperatureincreaseafter 20 minutesof Jouleheating

(usinga valueof 1.0x 10-6 W m-3) islessthan100K.

At higheraltitudes, say above200 km, the temperature
increase over the same time period can be many hundreds of kelvins. This is due to the fact that although
the volumetricJoule heating rate is decreasingwith increasingheight the neutral density is decreasingmore
rapidly, and solessenergyis neededto significantlyheat
the more tenuous neutral gas.

other particle species.For ions and electronsthe forcebalance conditions,averagedover the particle distribution functions, are respectively:

Ne(E + vi x B) - Nemib'inVi- Nemib'ie(Vi- Ve) = 0

(1)

-Nee(r' +Ve xS)-Nerfleb'enVe-]-Nerfleb'ei(Vi--Ve)

-- 0
where N is the electron density, e is the magnitude of
the electron charge, mi and vi are the ion mass and
bulk velocity, rn and v are the electron massand velocity, lJin, lJie, Yen, and lJei are the ion-neutral, ionelectron,electron-neutral,and electron-ioncollisionfrequencies,which are assumedto be independentof the
bulk velocities,and E is the electric field in the frame
of referenceof the neutral gas. In reality, the effective
electron-neutralcollisionfrequencyis somewhatdifferent for electron motions parallel or perpendicular to B.

Analysisof (1) and (2) [e.g.,Richmond,1995b]shows

that parallel to B the electronvelocity dominatesover
the ion velocity and is given to a good approximation

by

eEil
+

(3)

while perpendicular to B the ion and electron velocities

are given to a good approximationby

uigtiE'
- +fbxE2

(4)

RICHMOND

AND

THAYER

135

5OO

trals

Electron

4OO

and
Ions}
/ region_ .'oon

300

\\\ '".
06

"..,

MidnightX

'

200

%%'

iv'""+ "'

'

Midnlght

'-'.....__

region
region

lOO

108

1010

1012

10TM

101810-2

1016

'

102

104

106

I,

'

108

Collision
Frequencies
and Oyrofrequencies
(s-)

NumberDensities
(m-s)

5OO

100

()

(d)
.

4OO

300
:-

..'

200

..

,.

lOO

o I
lO

-8

10-6

10-4
10-2
Conductivities
(Sm -)

102 10-5

100

10-4
Ion-drag coefficients
(s-)

10-3

Figure 4. Typical ionosphericparameters at 44.6N, 2.2E on March 21 for medium solar activity

(10.7 cm radio flux of 120 x 10-22 W cm-2 Hz-1; sunspotnumber67) and low magneticactivity
(Ap - 4), obtainedfrom the 1990InternationalReferenceIonosphere[Bilitza, 1990]and the MSISE-90
neutral-densitymodel [Hedin,1991]. (a) Number densitiesof electrons,ions,and neutralsat noon and
midnight. The altitudes of the ionosphericregionsconventionallycalled D, E, and F are also indicated.
(b) Collisionfrequencies
v, ve_L(for motionperpendicular
to B), and %11+ %ill (for motionalong
B), and gyrofrequencies
f and f,. Collisionfrequenciesare from Richmond[1995b]. (c) Noontime

parallel
(all),
Pedersen
(api,and
Hall(all)conductivities.
(d)Iondrag
coefficients
apB2/p
(Pedersen)
andaHB2/p (Hall), andthe angularrotationrateof the Earth,.

V_L:

--t2en_LeEL
xE5
2 --e2b
+

are the angular gyrofrequenciesof the ions and elec(5) trons,

describingtheir gyration in the geomagneticfield.

where b is a unit vector in the direction of B, and where

e -- ]/T/e

(6)
(7)

Figure 4b shows typical noontime midlatitude profiles of the collision and gyro-frequenciesfor electrons
and positive ions. The collision frequency of electrons
with neutralsdeterminesthe mobility of electronsalong
B below about 200 km, while above that height collisions with ions become more important. In any case,

136

IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS'

A TUTORIAL

Current Calculations
at 14:30 UT
Norlh

E
130

J127
kl
Fast
125

North
120

J117k

115

11o

105

Norlh

2.

_
Scale:

Current...... :>
vector

IO0

13

14

E-field

UT (hours)

0.025

O. 150

0.275

25 gAm-2

15

0.400

60 mVm-

0.525

0.650

JOULEHEATINGRATE(uW

Plate 1. An exampleof the variationsof electrodynamic

parameters
with heightandtime in the highlatitudeE region,measured
by the Sondrestrom
incoherent-scatter
radarat a resolution
of 3 km in height
and5 minutes
in time. The vectors
arethemeasured
horizontal
currentdensity,
in/A/m 9'.'Northward
is
up and eastwardis toward the right. The scalar image behind the current vectorsis the volumetric Joule

heatingratein/2W/m3. Theinsetshows
numerical
calculations
of thehorizontal
currentdensity
J at
threedifferentaltitudes,corresponding
to the radarelectric-field
measurement
E at 1430UT, accounting
for changes
in the ion-neutralcollisionfrequencyand the ion gyrofrequency
with height,whileneglecting
neutral winds and using a constant electron density at all altitudes.

RICHMOND

Altitude

THAYER

137

times. However,collisionsof chargedparticleswith neutrals break the condition of frozen-in magnetic flux, so
that the charged particles along a given field line no
longer move to neighboringfield lines in unison. What
is important in determiningthe degreeto which charged
particles are tied to magnetic field lines is the ratio of
the collisionfrequencywith neutrals to the angular gyrofrequencyin the magneticfield. The electrongyrofre-

160
km

AND

quencyis nearly107tad/s, whilethe iongyrofrequency

is only a little over 100 tad/s, with some height de-

125km
X e Hall
i

110km

Pedersen

- e

Figure 15. Schematicof height variations of electron (e)

and ion (i) velocities,v, and of the electric current J. The
magneticfield B is into the page, and the electricfield E'
is downward. The Pedersen component of the current is
downward, and the Hall component is toward the left.

theelectron
mobilityprallelto B is sufficiently
large
to produce a very large electrical conductivity in that
direction. This large conductivitytendslargelyto short
out any parallel electric field in the ionosphere,i.e.,

for phenomena with scale sizes perpendicular to B of

about 1 km or more. In the plane perpendicular to B,
the situation is very different. The geomagneticfield
has a very strong influenceon the chargedparticle motion perpendicular to the magnetic field, and therefore
on the perpendicular conductivity at all altitudes above
70 km. It tends to constrain chargedparticles to spiral
around field lines. Notice that at high altitudes, where

Uin<< fi and Uen<< fe, (4)and (5) reduceto

E'xB

vi-v-

B2

(9)

whichrepresents
the E x B (E-cross-B)drift velocityof
chargedparticlesin crossedelectricand magneticfields.
Thus at high altitudes in the ionospherethe ions and
electronsessentiallymove together in the direction perpendicular to the magnetic field. Together with the ap-

pendence due to the varying mean molecular mass of

the ions. The electron collision frequency equals the
gyrofrequencyaround 70 km, well below heights where
there is enoughplasma density to carry significantcurrent. As a consequence,the electrons are essentially
tied to the magnetic field throughout the entire conducting ionosphere. For ions, collisions are relatively
much more important. Even though the ion collision
frequency with neutrals is about two orders of magnitude

smaller

than

the

electron-neutral

collision

fre-

quency, it does not decreaseto the level of the ion gyrofrequencyuntil an altitude of about 125 km. It is only
above about 150 km that the ions becomestrongly tied
to the magnetic field, and that the frozen-in flux condition is approximately valid. Below 110 km the motion
of the ions is strongly coupled with that of the neutral air through collisions. The intermediate altitude
range, 110- 150 km, is where the ions gain the ability
to move at a velocity substantially different from either
the E x B velocity or the velocity of the neutrals.
Figure 5 illustrates the variations of ion motion and
electric current with altitude, in the neutral frame of
reference. At all three altitudes shown,the electronsessentially move at the E x B velocity, toward the right.
At 160 km the ions move nearly in that direction, but
have a small component of velocity in the direction of

E'. At 125 km the ion-velocity componentparallel to

E' becomesapproximately equal to the componentin
the E x B direction. At 110 km the ions are nearly immobilized, but do still have a small velocity component
nearly parallel to E'.
The electric current density J is given by

J - Ne(vi- v).

(10)

By convention, the component of J in the direction of

proximation(8), this leadsto the conditionof "frozenin magneticflux" at these high altitudes, whereby all
charged particles on a common magnetic field line at

E', in the planeperpendicularto B, is called "Pedersen"

current, while the componentperpendicular to both E'
and B is called "Hall" current. At 150 km the velocity

one time

difference between ions and electrons is small but lies

remain

on a common

field line at all future

138 IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL

approximatelyin the direction of E , and so the resulting electric current is mainly Pedersen. At 110 km, on
the other hand, the current is carried mainly by negatively chargedelectronsmoving at the E x B velocity,
and the current is mainly Hall, flowing oppositeto the
electronvelocity. Around 125 km the Pedersenand Hall
current componentsare comparable.

reasonis that parallel currentscannotcontinueflowing

into the poorly conductinglower atmosphere,and must
find a continuation path that traversesmagnetic field

By combining(3)-(5) with (10), we obtainan expres-

representedby (8). The ratio of parallel to perpendicular electricfield strengthsis roughly of the order of the
ratio of perpendicular to parallel conductivity, typically

lines. The parallel and perpendicular current densities

are therefore linked together, and the parallel current
densityis severelylimited in its magnitude. As a consequence,the parallel electric field must be very small, as

sion for Ohm's law:

J - apE_+ arb x E'_t_

+ allEilb

10-5. Anotherimportantfeatureof the anisotropyof

the conductivity is the changingratio of Hall to Pedersen conductivity with height: a H is larger below about
.'ee2
125 km, while ap is larger above that height. Around
100 kmaH is about 30 times larger than ap. The conSee
lJini
lJen.J_e
ductivities have a great deal of variability as the iono+
sphericplasma density changes,and, to a lesserextent,
asthe neutral densityof the upper atmospherechanges.
There is a large day-night difference,and alsoan imporlYen 1
tant changewith the solar cycle. There is great variabilwhereall, ap, anda arerespectively
theparallel,Ped- ity in the auroral zone, due to the irregular nature of
auroral ionization by precipitating energeticparticles.
ersen, and Hall conductivities.
At magnetic high latitudes, where geomagneticfield
Ohm's law seemsto work very well in the ionosphere
for time scalesconsiderablylongerthan the inversecolli- lines are approximately vertical, the electric field is approximately horizontal, and an electric field mapped
sion and gyro-ffequencies,that is, longerthan a minute
from the magnetosphereis approximately constantwith
or so, althoughthe assumedlinearity betweenJ and E'
height over the few-hundred-kilometerthicknessof the
may fail if the electricfield becomesso large that it afionosphere. Under these conditions we can often treat
fects the valuesof the collisionfrequencies.Ohms law
the
ionosphereas a thin conductingshell,with shellcondoesnot say anything about causeand effect;that is, it
ductances
given by the height integrals of the Pedersen
does not say that the electric field is the sourceof the
and
Hall
conductivities.
Figure 6 showsan exampleof
current or that the current is the source of the electric
the
Hall
conductance
over
the northernpolar region,esfield. It merely states that the electric field and current
timated
by
combining
a
variety
of data for the auroral
are linearly related. If one exists then the other must
conductivity
component,
plus
a
model of the conducalsoexist. Any mechanismthat drivescurrentthrough
tance
produced
by
solar
extreme
ultraviolet radiation
the medium must be accompaniedby an electricfield,
on
the
dayside
of
the
Earth.
The
magnitudes
of the soand any mechanismthat creates an electric field in the
lar
and
auroral
contributions
are
roughly
comparable,
medium must be accompaniedby current flow.
althoughthe auroral componentis highly variable. The
By appropriately defining a conductivity tensor 5,
Pealersen
conductancetends to have a magnitude comdimensioned 3 x 3, we can write Ohm's law in a more
parable
with
that of the Hall conductance. The ratio
compact form:
of Hall to Pedersenconductancein the auroral region
J = 5E'
(15) increaseswith the mean energy of the ionizing auroral

me(Yen]]-
lYeill
)

lJ
in-[- i Yen.L
-[- e
2)
Nee - )

(12)

(13)
(14)

The componentsof the conductivity tensor are shownin

Figure 4c for typical noontime midlatitude conditions.
The principal anisotropyof the conductivityis the very
large differencebetweenthe conductivity along B and
the conductivityperpendicularto B at all heightsabove
80 km. Although one might be tempted to conclude
that this large differencewould result in currentsalong
B that were much larger than those perpendicular to
B, that is not the case in the lower ionosphere. The

particles[e.g.,Robinsonet al., 1987].

IONOSPHERIC

WIND

DYNAMO

It is important to rememberthat Ohm's law applies

to the referenceframe of the material medium,in this
case essentiallythe neutral gas that provides the ion
collisions. The electric field E has to be that measured

in this frame. If there is a wind of velocityU, then E is

RICHMOND

AND

THAYER

139

With suitableboundaryconditions,(19) can be solved

for ,

and the distributions

of electric

fields and cur-

rents can be determined everywhere in the ionosphere.

In practice, (19) can be simplified considerablyby taking advantage of the fact that geomagneticfield lines
are essentially equipotentials. Since varies only in

the two spatial dimensionstransverseto B, (19) can be

reduced to a partial diffecential equation in only two
dimensions by integrating it along field lines, all the
way from one hemisphere to the other for closed field
lines. When that is done, it is the field-line integrals
of the transverse components of b and of bU x B that
becomeimportant, rather than the height-varyingvalues of of a and aU

x B themselves.

Those

altitudes

that give the dominant contribution to the field-line integrals, mainly 90-200 km at day, define what is called
the "dynamo region."

The appropriateboundary conditionfor (19) at the

base of the ionosphere is that the vertical current denoo

sity goesto zero, sinceestimatesof current flow between

the lower atmosphere and the ionosphere indicate that

Figure 6. Example of Hall conductance,in units of siemens,

polewardof 50 magneticlatitude on 1990 March 20 at 2000
UT. Local noon is at the top. The contour interval is 2 S.
related

to the electric

field in the frame of reference of

the Earth, E, by the (nonrelativistic)transformation'

E'- E + U x B.

(16)

On time scaleslonger than a minute or so E is electrostatic'

E - -X7

(17)

Unlike E, the so-called "dynamo electric field" U x B is

not constrainedto be either a potential field or constant
along B. When it is not, which is normally the case,
then it cannot be canceled by E, so that E' must be
non-zero

and current

must flow.

This

is the essence

of the ionosphericwind dynamo effect: the motion of

the conductingmedium through the geomagneticfield
by winds usually leads to current generation. On time
scaleslonger than a fraction of a second, the current
must be divergence-free:

X7.J -0

(18)

it is negligibleon a global scale, if perhapsnot always

so locally above thunderstorms. The upper boundary
condition is much more complicated, as it essentially
requiresknowledgeof how the magnetospherebehaves
and how it reacts to changesin the ionosphericconditions. Typically, modelers of the ionosphericdynamo
either ignorethe magnetospherealtogether, or elsetreat
it as a simple voltage generator or current generator.
However, it is possible to take into account the electrodynamic interaction between the ionosphereand the
inner part of the magnetospherein a relatively simple

way by usingthe conceptof "shielding"[e.g., Southwood,1977]. As magnetosphericelectric fields convect plasma toward or away from the Earth, gradientcurvature

drifts

of the

modified

distributions

of hot

particles generate electric currents that produce fieldaligned currents into and out of the ionosphereat high
latitudes, the so-called"region-2"field-alignedcurrents.
These alter the electric potential in the ionosphereand,
becauseof the tight electrical connectionwith the magnetosphere,the magnetosphericelectric field is also altered.

The alteration

is such that further

inward

or out-

ward motion of the plasma is strongly diminished. This

correspondsto a weakening of the east-west electric
field, so that the low-latitude boundary of the region2 current tends to become more nearly equipotential,

Combining(15)-(18) resultsin a partial differentialequa- and the penetration of electric field to middle and low
tion for :

v. [av]

- v. [au x B]

(19)

latitudes is suppressed. The magnetospheric plasma

takes several tens of minutes to redistribute after any
changein the potential at the high-latitude boundary,

140 IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL

Condition
E -'
ddz
above
125
km
Boundary
ExB

B
Casel

of 10-5 A/m 2, comparable

to that in the auroralelec-

Case 2

vertical polarization field drives the strong horizontal

Hall current of the equatorial electrojet. The peak current density in the equatorial electrojet is on the order

I 'I

trojets. However, the equatorial electrojet current is

confinedto a relatively small altitude region, so that

its height-integratedvaluetendsto be lessthan that of

typical auroral electrojets.

Figure 7 illustratesthe way that electricfieldsand

Figure 7. Two casesof dynamo action driven by winds
above 125 km. The magneticfield B is into the page. In case
1 the wind velocity U is a counterclockwisevortex, while
in case 2 the horizontal wind is divergent. The assumed
boundaryconditionsare that the verticalcurrentdensity
at the top and bottom of the ionosphereare zero, and that
the electric potential vanishesat the horizontal boundaries.
The polarization electric field is E, and the height-integrated

horizontal
current
density
isf Jdz.
so shieldingis not effectivefor rapidly varyingfields. In
the steady state, the electric fields in the auroral zone
do not penetrate much into midlatitudes, and an approximate boundary condition that is sometimesused
in dynamo modeling is to set the potential around the
equatorward edge of the shielding region to zero. A
slightly more sophisticatedway to treat the shielding
in a steady state was shownby Vasyliunas[1972] to
be simply to replacethe hot magnetosphericplasma by

currentsrespondto two different idealizedforms of the

wind, for a laterally bounded region with zero electric potential around the boundary, and for upper and
lower boundary conditionsrequiring zero vertical current. The geometryis plane, with a vertically downward magnetic field. For both casesthe wind exists
mainly above 125 km, where the Pealersenconductivity
dominates. However, the electric field that is generated
extendsdown to lower heights,where it can drive Hall
current.

The

first case is that

of a counterclockwise

wind vortex. The dynamo electric field U x B drives

Pealersencurrent toward the center of the vortex, which

must be offset by an equal amount of outward Pealersen current driven by an outward polarization electric field which is immediately established. Although
the Pealersencurrent is effectively canceled,the electric.
field causes electrons to circulate counterclockwise

at all

heights,which in the lower part of the dynamo region

an effective Hall conductor, with a conductance many

(whereion motionis impededby collisions)givesrise

times larger than that of the ionosphereat the foot of

the respectivefields lines.
From inspectionof (19), one might expect that in

to a clockwise Hall current. The resultant net height-

regionsof the ionospherewhere magnetospheric

influencesare relatively weak, the solution for will tend
to yield an electric field -V that is of the sameorder
of magnitude as U x B. Another way of sayingthis is
that the resultant E x B drift velocities might be expected to be on the order of magnitude of U. In fact,
that expectation is not too far from reality, with a few
caveats. First, the high conductivity along geomagnetic
field lines tends to averagethe dynamo effectsof winds
along field lines, so that winds with vertically oscillat-

ing structuretend to be ineffectivein generatinglectric

fields,and windsin regionsof relatively low conductivity alongthe field line are alsoineffective,like the daytime F regionor the nighttimevalleybetweenthe E and
F regions.Second,the peculiarconditionsin the lower
ionospherenear the magnetic equator, where the ratio
of field-line-integratedHall to Pedersenconductivities
is very large, give rise to a significantCowlingeffect
and a strong vertical polarization electric field that is
much larger than typical magnitudesof U x B. This

integratedcurrentis thereforea clockwisevortex. (Note

that if the wind vortex had existed only at lower altitudes, in the Hall conductivity region, instead of at the
higher altitudes, the winds would convectthe ions in a
counterclockwisevortex of Hall current, and the height-

integratedcurrentwouldbe reversed.)
The secondcase is that of a divergent wind, which
drives a non-divergentcounterclockwisePealersencurrent. In reality, since the Hall conductivity does not
entirely vanishabove125 km, a small outward-directed
Hall current will also exist, which must be offset by
a small inward-directed polarization electric field and
Pedersen current. However, the dominant current is

just the counterclockwise

wind-drivenPealersen
current.
In this casethe generationof the electricfield is weak:
it is theoreticallypossibleto have current flow without any significantelectric field (in the Earth frame of
reference).
The winds that drive the dynamo effectshave a variety of sources.Figure 8 showsa model simulationof
winds in the upper atmospheredriven by a combination
of solar heating and upward-propagatingatmospheric

RICHMOND

6O

141

contributionto the $q current. Observations

of tidesin

3o

THAYER

to characterize than those of the wind driven by thermosphericsolar heating, but they provide a significant

9O

AND

the lowerthermospherehave revealeda large amount of

variability, not only on a seasonalbasis, but also on a
day-to-day basis. This wind variability can be expected
to contribute to the day-to-day variability observed in

-30
-6o

the $q magneticvariations.

-9o

Another driver of thermospheric winds, especially

important at high latitudes, is the electric current.
There are two ways that the current affects the winds:

9o
6o

throughthe Ampereforce(or J x B force)and through

Jouleheating. The Ampere force representsthe sum of

3o

Lorentz forceson the ions and electrons,forcesthat are

transfeted to the neutrals through collisions. It therefore balances the collisional force exerted by the neutrals on the ions and electrons as represented by the

-30
-6o

I80-i50-120-90-60-30

30

60

90

i20

i50

I80

LONGITUDE

secondterms in (1) and (2). The forceper unit mass

on the neutrals, or Ampere acceleration, is

1(NemilYinV
i r-NemeVenVe),

Figure 8. Temperatures(contours)and winds (arrows)

at 12 UT for equinox, solar-minimum conditions, at atmo-

sphericpressurelevelsof 6.8 /Pa (approximately300 km,

top) and 2.7 mPa (approximately125 km, bottom). Tem-

wherep is air massdensityand where,as in (1) and

(2), the velocities
arethosewith respectto the frameof

peratures are expressedas departures from the global mean.

reference
oftheneutralair. Thisacceleration
ismainly-

Contourintervalsare 20 K (top) and 12 K (bottom). The

maximumwind arrowsare 166 m/s (top) and 71 m/s (bottom). (Adaptedfrom Fesenet al. [1986].)

important above 100 km, where the ion term dominates.

For this reasonit is often called "ion drag." Use of (4),

(5), (13), (14), (11), and (16), with somemanipulation,
shows that

tides from the lower atmosphere. The daily heating of

the atmosphere above 100 km causes dayside expansion and a pressurebulge that drives winds toward the
night side. These winds generally increasein strength
with height through the dynamo region, so they are
largestwhere the Pedersenconductivitydominatesover
the Hall conductivity. In Figure 8 the characterof this
wind componentis clearly manifestedin the upper thermosphere,at 300 km, but it is also presentat lower altitudes. On the day side, the midlatitude poleward wind
in the dynamo regiondriveswestwardcurrent. A westeast polarization electric field developsin the low latitude daysideionospherethat helpsto closethis midlatitude westwardcurrentand form the global$q vortices.
The current driven by this wind component is supplementedby current driven by semidiurnaltides (that is,
globalwaveswith 12-hourperiod) that are generatedat
loweratmosphericlevelsand propagateupward into the
thermosphere. These waves have oscillatory characteristics in all three spatial dimensions as well as in time,
and dominate

the simulated

winds at 125 km shown in

Figure 8. Their dynamo effects are more complicated

this acceleration

JxB

can also be written

as

P (ExB
B2 U_l
crpB2
)
(20)

x (ExB
B2 U_L
crHB2
)

bP

where U is the component of U perpendicular to B.

The first term on the right-hand side simultaneously
acceleratesthe wind towards the E x B drift velocity
and acts as a frictional drag; or viewed in the reference frame of the neutral air, it accelerates the wind
towards the E x B drift velocity. It is effective on a
time scale determined by the inverse of the coefficient

crpB2/p.The second
termontheright-handsideof (20)
simultaneouslyacceleratesthe wind in the direction of
E and causesan accelerationperpendicular to the wind
velocity that generally opposesthe Coriolis acceleration
associated

with

the Earth's

rotation.

Figure 4d showstypical midlatitude profiles of the

coefficients
o'pB2/p and o'HB2/p. For reference,
the

142 IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL

angular rotation rate of the Earth is also shown,which

is representativeof the Coriolis accelerationor of the
time-rate-of changeof a diurnally varying wind. The

The Joule heating has a different form of influenceon

thermosphericdynamics than does the Ampere force.
Joule heating causesthe air to rise and flow equator-

Pealersen
coefficient
eypB2/pis muchmoreimportant ward above 125 kin. At middle and low latitudes the
than the Hall coefficienterHB2/p. Above130 km it air subsides,and there is a return poleward circulation
varies with height as the electron density. These daytime midlatitude profilesare also roughly representative
of valuesin the nighttime auroral zone,thoughof course
the actual valuesvary with the electrondensity. A value

of 10-4 s-1 represents

abouta 3-houracceleration
time
for the wind.

At highlatitudes,wherethe magnitude
of E x B/B 2
typically exceedsthat of U, the Ampbre force above
125 km tends to accelerate

the neutral

wind towards

below 125 km to preservemass continuity, though the

air velocity there is much smaller, because the air is
muchmore dense. The Coriolisforce acting on the equatorward wind causeswestward zonal winds to develop
encirclingthe poles and extending to midlatitudes. For
a storm lasting many hours, the westward winds con-

tinue to build up, becomingconsiderablystrongerthan

the equatorward winds, and these westward winds can
continue many hours after the heating subsides. The

the E x B/B 9'velocity.Figure9 showsan exampleof

meridional circulation, on the other hand, shuts down

the influenceof ion convectionon the wind, taken from

a numerical simulation. Figure 9a is the electric potential over the northern high latitudes, showingthe
assumedpattern of two-cell ion convection. Figure 9b
is the steady-state wind responseat 145 km altitude,

fairly quickly after the heating stops. These westward

winds can have an important influence on the ionosphericwind dynamo, an effect that has been calledthe

with a vector scale 4 times as sensitive as that

on the

left. There is a large-scaleday-to-night flow, in addition to an imprint of the two-cell ion-convectionpattern.

The convection-drivencomponentof the wind velocity

isconsiderably
smallerthantheE x B/B 9'velocity,
and
the pattern is turned counter-clockwiseabout 2 hours.
This rotation

is in the direction

of the Earth's

rotation

and correspondsroughly to the time scalefor ion drag

to be effective. To a large extent, that rotation also pre-

ventsthe wind from having a chanceto acce'lerateup

to the ion velocity, because the direction and strength
of the ion convectionis continually changing.
What would now happen if we cut off the current flow
betweenthe ionosphereand the magnetosphere?These
winds would continue to have a dynamo effect. With
the model we can do such experiments. In Figure 9c,
the neutral wind pattern of Figure 9b has been retained,
while all current flow with the magnetospherehas been
canceled. As in Case I of Figure 7, the wind vortices
generate an electric potential that tends to causethe
ions to drift with the neutrals, or more specifically,
with the height-averagedneutral velocity, weighted by
the Pedersenconductivity. To zeroth order, the potential has the appearance of the potential that had been
imposedfrom the magnetosphereearlier, although the

"disturbance
dynamo"[Blancand Richmond,1980].
ELECTROMAGNETIC
BETWEEN
THE

ENERGY
TRANSFER
MAGNETOSPHERE
AND

THE

IONOSPHERE

In examiningthe role of the ionosphere-thermosphere

systemin the energy exchangewith the magnetosphere
at high latitudes, we need to recognizethat the net current and electric field are the result of all processesoccurring along the field line, including both ionospheric
and magnetosphericinfluences. Separating these two
contributions

in terms

of currents

and electric

field is

not feasible - measuring the winds, conductivities, and

electric fields simultaneouslyover a range of spatial
scalesto evaluate the ionosphericinfluencesat high latitudes is extremely challenging. This has led to the concept of applying Poynting'stheorem to the high-latitude
ionosphere.The theorem, derived from Maxwell's equations, reads

Ot

2/0

4-V.

/0

+J.E-O

(21)

where/0 is the permeability of free space and c is the

speedof light. A clear treatment of how Poynting's

theorem can be applied to describingthe electromagnetic energy flow within the magnetospherehas been

electricpotential is about 25% as large, 7.5 kV vs. 30

kV, and again the pattern is rotated in the senseof
Earth's rotation. This effect has been called the "flywheel"effect[Banks,1972],sincethe spinningmassof

givenby Hill [1983].Cowley[1991]presented

a general
view of electromagneticenergyexchangebetweenthe
magnetosphereand ionosphere,applying a source-sink

the neutral atmospheric vortices tends to maintain the

ion convectionthat originally spun it up.

Poynting'stheoremappliesto all typesof electromagnetic interactions,ranging from electromagneticwaves

concept.

RICHMOND

TIEGCM ELECTRICPOTENTIAL(volts)
UT -

AND

THAYER

TIECCM NEUTRALWINDS

0.OO

UT -

0.00

145 km

12

12

kOCk ll[

kOCk ll[

TIEGCU ELECTRIC POTENTIAL(volts)

UT

Perira lat =

47.5

O.OB

12

(c)

18

7o u/s

LOCAL TINE

Figure9. Results
ofa simulation
illustrating
the"flywheel"
effectforsolar-minimum
equinox:
conditions.
Contour intervals are 1000 V; vector velocity scalesvary, as shownat the lower right of each plot.
Electric-potentialcontoursand E x B velocityvectorsin geographiccoordinatesbetween47.5 and the
North Pole, at 0 UT, for a diurnally reproducible simulation with an imposed cross-polar-cappotential

of 30 kV. (b) Correspondingneutral wind vectorsat 145 km altitude. (c) Electric potential contoursand
E x B velocity vectors one time step later, after field-aligned current between the ionosphereand the

outer magnetosphere
has been cut off. From Richmond[1995a].

143

144 IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL

to steady-statefields. Here we consideronly the energyflowassociated

with quasi-steady-state
ionospheric
fields,varyingon time scaleslongerthan about 10 minutes. For suchfieldsthe time-rate-of-change
of elec-

tromagnetic
energydensityc9[(B
2 + E 2/c2)/2/o]/0tis
generallynegligiblein comparisonwith the other terms

in (21) between100 km and 200 km altitude, and

we can considera balancebetweenthe convergence
of
E x B//0 andthe rate of electromagnetic
energytrans-

where z is altitude, and where the + (-) sign applies

to the northern (southern) hemisphere. Thus space-

craftmeasurements
of $ll cangiveusanestimate
ofthe
height-integratedelectromagneticenergytransferto the
ionosphere
[Kelleyet al., 1991].
The electromagnetic
energytransferto the ionosphere/
thermospherecan be divided into two components:Joule
heating and accelerationof the medium. That is, by
making useof (16), we find that

fer to the medium J E. For suchfields E is also essen-

tially a potentialfield,asexpressed
by (17). E x B//0
J.E =J.E +U-J xB.
(25)
is often calledthe Poyntingvector,but the Poynting
The first term on the right-handsideof (25) is the elecvectorcan alsobe definedin other ways,as long as it
tromagnetic energy transfer rate in the frame of referhasa divergence
equalto the divergence
of E x B/u0.
enceof the medium,and corresponds
to Jouleheating.
For ionosphericpurposesit is convenientto representB
asthe sumof the maingeomagnetic
field,whichis given
by the negativegradientof a scalarmagneticpotential
1/0, and a perturbation 5B:

B - -VVo + B

(22)

Then the PoyntingvectorS can be definedby

ExSB

S-

/0

(3)

since7. (7 x 7V0) vanishesidentically.

Plate 2 illustratesthe geometryof the electromagneticfieldsand Poyntingvectorat highlatitudes,where
geomagneticfield lines are approximatelyvertical. At
an altitude of 600 km, a typical height for low-Earthorbiting (LEO) scientificspacecraft,B is predominantly horizontal where significantfield-alignedcurrentsflow. E is alsopredominantlyhorizontalby virtue
of its orthogonalitywith the main geomagneticfield.
S is therefore predominantly vertical. At the bottom

boundaryof the ionosphere,

wherefield-alignedcurrent
is absent,E and the horizontalcomponentof B tend to
lie in roughlythe samedirection,and sothe component

Ohm's
lawgives
it a value
ofpE + 11E,
which
is

alwayspositive.The secondterm on the right of (25) is

the scalarproduct of the velocityand the Ampereforce,
whichcorresponds
to the feedingof kineticenergyof the
medium by this force, or, if negative, to the extraction
of kinetic energy from the medium. When kinetic energy is extracted, it may be converted locally to Joule
heat, or it may contribute negatively to J. E, in which
caseit would be transferred through the Poynting vector to another ionosphericaltitude or even back to the

magnetosphere.Thayer [1998b]showedthat the two

terms on the right-hand side of (25) can be comparable in magnitudeat a givenheight in the polar region.
However,when integratedin height through the thicknessof the conductingionosphere,the secondterm is
usuallyconsiderablysmallerthan the first [Lu et al.,
1995; Thayer et al., 1995]. LEO spacecraftobservations have shownthat the Poynting vector is primarily
downwardthroughoutthe high latitudes[e.g., Gary et
al., 1994, 1995],whichis compatiblewith a dominance
of the Joule heating term in (25). Nonetheless,that

studyalsofoundupwardvaluesof $1[overan extended

region on numerous polar passesof the Dynamics Exof S parallelto B, $ll, tendsto be considerably
smaller plorer spacecraft,suggestingthat the secondterm on
than it is on the top side of the ionosphere.Thus there
the right of (25) can, at times and in certainregions,
ends to be a divergenceof S through the ionosphere, dominateoverthe first. Modelingstudies[e.g., Thayer
which is usually negative and therefore correspondsto
and Vickery,1992; Thayer et al., 1995] indicatethat
a dissipationof electromagneticenergy. There can also the winds spun up by the Ampere accelerationhave a
be horizontal contributionsto the divergenceof S, but
tendency
to contribute
to an upward$[I in cases
where
hey are generally much smaller than the vertical contrithe large-scaleelectric field has rapidly decreased.
butions. If we integrate (21) over a cylindrical volume
CONCLUDING
REMARKS
aligned with a geomagneticfield line, as illustrated in

Plate2, andif weneglectbothSll at the bottomand

the horizontalcontributionsto the divergence
of S, then
we find that

.00km
q_ 200km
J. Edz,
J90km

(24)

The coupling between ionosphericelectrodynamics

and thermosphericdynamics,and their couplingwith
magnetosphericelectrodynamicsand with lower-atmospheric dynamics, create a rich variety of phenomena

which posean abundanceof researchquestionsto the

RICHMOND

AND

THAYER

Satellite
Measurement

600 kin-

100 kmm

..

Ionosphere
",,
...........

Dusk.

. ....

Da n

Magneticfield

Current system, J

--

Poyntingvector,S

..

---

Satellitemeasurementpath

Radar
measurement
domain

..............

Plate 2. A schematic of the "region 1" current system associatedwith the transfer of energy and
momentum into the ionosphere.The view is looking towards the Sun over the northern hemisphere,with
spacecraftand radar measurementdomains depicted accordingly. Over the polar cap the magnetic field
s downward, E and the Pedersen current Jp are directed from dawn to dusk, while the Hall current J H

flowsinto the page in this plane. The Poynting vector S is primarily downward. Typical height profiles
of a p and aH are indicated over the pole. The neutral wind Uv is a responseto multiple forces, and has

components
bothin theplaneandoutoftheplaneof thefigure.In theinset,1is a unitvectorparallel
to B, fi is a unit vectornormalto the sideof the cylindricalvolume,and Sii and S_are the components
of S parallel and perpendicular to B, respectively. This figure is a modification of Figure 7 of Cowley

[1991].

145

146

IONOSPHERIC

ELECTRODYNAMICS:

A TUTORIAL

scientificcommunity. It is becauseof these interactions Hill, T.W., Solar-wind magnetospherecoupling, in SolarTerrestrial Physics, edited by R.L. Carovillano and J.M.
that observations of ionospheric electrodynamics can
Forbes, pp. 261-302, D. Reidel, Norwell, Mass., 1983.
tell us a great deal about magnetosphericprocessesand
Kelley, M.C., D.J. Knudsen,and J.F. Vickrey, Poyntingflux
about global atmospheric dynamics. Furthermore, the
measurementson a satellite: A diagnostic tool for space
ionosphereplays an active role in the electrodynamics
research, J. Geophys. Res., 96, 201-207 , 1991.
of the magnetosphere,and the impact of the interactive Lu, G., A.D. Richmond, B.A. Emery, P.H. Reiff, O. de
la Beaujardire, F.J. Rich, W.F. Denig, H.W. Kroehl,
electrodynamicson the upper atmospherecan be proL.R. Lyons, J.M. Ruohoniemi, E. Friis-Christensen, H.
found. It is a challengeto the ionosphere-thermosphere
Opgenoorth,M.A.L. Persson,R.P. Lepping, A.S. Rodger,
community to try to unravel these complex plasma and
T. Hughes, A. McEwin, S. Dennis, R. Morris, G. Burns,
neutral

interactions.

and L. Tomlinson, Interhemispheric asymmetry of the

high-latitude ionosphericconvectionpattern, J. Geophys.

Acknowledgments. We thank Gang Lu and two referees

for helpful comments on an earlier draft. This work was
supported by the NASA Sun-Earth ConnectionTheory program and by NASA grant W-19,201. The work by one of us

(JPT) waspartially fundedby NSF CooperativeAgreement

ATM-9813556 and NSF grant ATM-9714705.
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and the behaviourof
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Blanc, M., and A.D. Richmond, The ionosphericdisturbance
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A.D. Richmond, High Altitude Observatory, National

Center for AtmosphericResearch,3450 Mitchell Lane, Boul-

der, CO 80301. (e-mail: richmond@ucar.edu)

J.P. Thayer, Geoscienceand Engineering Center, SRI
International, 333 Ravenswood Avenue, Menlo Park, CA

94025. (e-mail: thayer@sri.com)