Study of TEC and equivalent slab thickness and their relationship with ion drifts and ionospheric temperatures

Abstract

The relationships of daytime total electron content and equivalent slab thickness with ion drifts and ionospheric electron temperature, respectively, have been examined. The data have been taken from the incoherent scatter radar measurements at Arecibo for the period August 1974-May 1977. Some 800 profiles of electron density, electron temperature, and ion drifts have been analyzed. The electron content is found to increase with increase in the vertical ion drift. There is, however, a time lag between the change in the ion drift velocity and the effect on electron content and this time lag varies from a few minutes to several hours, depending upon the height of the F-layer peak. The daytime equivalent slab thickness is seen to increase with the increase in electron temperature.