Electron temperature in nighttime sporadic E layer at mid-latitude

Abstract

Abstract. Electron temperature in the sporadic E layer was measured with a glass-sealed Langmuir probe at a mid-latitude station in Japan in the framework of the SEEK (Sporadic E Experiment over Kyushu)-2 campaign which was conducted in August 2002. Important findings are two fold: (1) electron temperature and electron density vary in the opposite sense in the height range of 100–108 km, and electron temperature in the Es layer is lower than that of ambient plasma, (2) electron temperature in these height ranges is higher than the possible range of neutral temperature. These findings strongly suggest that the heat source that elevates electron temperature much higher than possible neutral temperature exists at around 100 km, and/or that the physical parameter values, which are used in the present theory to calculate electron temperature, are not proper.