Ionospheric Scintillations/TEC and In-Situ Density Measurements at an Auroral Location in the European Sector

The orbiting HiLat satellite launched in 1983 offered an opportunity for studying ionospheric scintillation parameters in relation to in-situ measurements of ionization density, drift velocity, field-aligned current, and particle precipitation during the sunspot minimum period. This report discusses results of a morphological study based on observations of scintillations and total electron content (TEC) at the auroral oval station at Tromso, Norway, during the period Dec 1983 - Oct 1985. The geometrical enhancement of scintillations observed during alignment of the propagation with the local magnetic L-shell is shown to be the most consistent and conspicuous feature of scintillations in the nighttime auroral oval. The dynamics of the spatial and temporal extent of this region are illustrated in the invariant latitude/ magnetic local time grid. Steepening of phase spectral slope in the geometrical enhancement region is indicative of the presence of L-shell aligned sheet-like irregularities at long scale lengths. The seasonal variation of TEC determined from the differential Doppler measurements of HiLat transmissions is discussed in relation to the in-situ density measurements at 830 km. The results are also used to illustrate the dependence of ionospheric structure parameters on short- term variability of solar activity during the sunspot minimum period. This study provides an insight into the nature of magnetospheric coupling with the ionosphere at high latitudes. Prepared in colloberation with Emmanuel College, Boston, MA.