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The nighttime winter anomaly (NWA) effect in the american sector as a consequence of interhemispheric ionospheric coupling

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Abstract

The nighttime winter anomaly (NWA) effect was observed during solar minimum conditions at the American sector by means of ionospheric electron content and vertical sounding measurements in Havana (Cuba). An effective interhemispheric transport of plasma is suggested to explain enhanced northern nighttime ionization during winter solstice. To elucidate this effect, an adequate physicalnumerical model of the coupled system ionosphere-plasmasphere is presented and applied to a corotating tube of plasma at L=1.5 in the American sector. The NWA can be explained by theoretically derived higher tube content during the December solstice and accordingly by more intense nighttime fluxes from the plasmasphere, compared to the June solstice.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Zentralinstitut für Astrophysik, Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, Rosa-Luxemburg-Str. 17a, DDR-1590, Potsdam

    M. Förster

  2. Institut für Kosmosforschung, Satellitenbodenstation Neustrelitz, Akademie der Wissenschaften der DDR, Kalkhorstweg, DDR-2080, Neustrelitz-5

    N. Jakowski

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  1. M. Förster
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  2. N. Jakowski
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Förster, M., Jakowski, N. The nighttime winter anomaly (NWA) effect in the american sector as a consequence of interhemispheric ionospheric coupling. PAGEOPH 127, 447–471 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00879821

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