Region of permanent generation of large-scale irregularities in the daytime winter ionosphere of the Southern Hemisphere

Abstract

With the use of data from topside sounding on board the Interkosmos-19 (IK-19) satellite, the region of permanent generation of large-scale irregularities in the daytime winter ionosphere of the Southern Hemisphere is differentiated. This region is characterized by low values of foF2 and hmF2 and occupies a rather large latitudinal band, from the equatorial anomaly ridge to ~70° S within the longitudinal range from 180° to 360°. Irregularities with a dimension of hundreds kilometers are regularly observed in the period from 0700–0800 to 1800–1900 LT, i.e., mainly in the daytime. In the IK-19 ionograms, they normally appear in the form of an extra trace with a critical frequency higher than that of the main trace reflected from the ionosphere with lower density. The electron density in the irregularity maximum sometimes exceeds the density of the background ionosphere by nearly a factor of 3. A model of the ionosphere with allowance for its irregular structure was created, and it was shown on the basis of trajectory calculations how the IK-19 ionograms related to these irregularities are formed. A possible mechanism of the generation of large-scale irregularities of the ionospheric plasma is discussed.