Response of the Sq and Equatorial Electrojet Variations to the North-South Asymmetry in Geomagnetic Activity.

Abstract

The nature of the diurnal variation of the ionospheric component of the equatorial electrojet and planetary Sq field is studied using the horizontal intensity data of a suitable triad of stations in the Indian zone separately for conditions of enhanced geomagnetic activity in the northern and southern hemispheres. It is shown that the influence of the NorthSouth asymmetry is manifested in distinct fashions in the diurnal patterns of Sq and jet. Disturbance dynamo caused by even moderate geomagnetic activity appears to alter the shape and structure of the equatorial electrojet and the planetary Sq current systems. Conspicuous absence of the difference when the asymmetry in geomagnetic activity vanishes confirms the perceptible influence of the N-S asymmetry on the ionospheric current system at low and equatorial latitudes.

Latitudinal Differences in Coconut Foliar Spiral Direction: A Re-evaluation and Hypothesis

“…Within 5m of the magnetic equator, the S q current system interacts in complex ways with the equatorial electrojet (Rangarajan and Dhar, 1992), which is a laterally situated upper-atmosphere current that circles the globe around its magnetic equator. Because of the complexity of the interactions between these two current systems, the Induced Current Hypothesis predicts some scattering of the data in those near-equatorial locales whose earth currents are influenced by the equatorial electrojet.…”