Ionospheric electron temperature at solar maximum

Abstract

Langmuir-probe measurements made at solar maximum from the DE-2 satellite in 1981 and 1982 are used to examine the latitudinal variation of electron temperature at altitudes between 300 and 400 km and its response to 27-day variations of solar EUV. A comparison of these data with models based on solar-minimum measurements from the AE-C suggests that the daytime electron temperature does not change very much during the solar cycle except at low latitudes where a particularly large 27-day variation occurs. It is found that the daytime electron temperature near the F2 peak is more responsive to short-term variations in F10.7 than to any longer-term changes that may occur between solar minimum and maximum.