ATOMIC NITROGEN AND OXYGEN IONS IN THE DAYTIME HIGH-LATITUDE F-REGION

The authors' high-latitude, ionospheric, dynamic model has been extended to include N** plus in addition to the ions NO** plus , O//2** plus , N//2** plus , and O** plus . The ion He was also included but altitude profiles of this ion were obtained from the previous polar wind study. The model has been further improved by updating the various chemical reaction rates and by including the latest solar EUV fluxes measured by the Atmosphere Explorer satellites, the most recent MSIS model of the neutral atmosphere (N//2, O//2, O, and He) and the latest empirical model of atomic nitrogen. The improved model was used to study the solar cycle, seasonal, and geomagnetic activity variations of the daytime high-latitude F layer. Both zonal and meridional convection electric fields were considered.