MODELS OF AURORAL IONIZATION: PART II. APPLICATIONS TO RADIO OBSERVATIONS OF AURORA

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Abstract
In this paper the available experimental evidence concerning radio reflections from aurora is examined in relation to the reflection characteristics of the models of auroral ionization discussed in Part I.The existence of critical reflection from auroral ionization at frequencies between 30 and 50 Mc/s appears to be established. This implies electron densities as great as 3 × 1013 electrons/m3. It is shown that the observations are consistent with a model consisting of irregularities of ionization elongated parallel to the earth's magnetic field in a ratio of between 5 and 10 times, and having sizes transverse to the held lines of the order of a few meters. Some of the observations require the irregularities to be distributed in size. It is clear that there is a need for more relevant measurements on radio reflections from aurora to specify the characteristics of the ionization more precisely.

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