[1] To study the spatial structure of midlatitude sporadic E (E s ) layers, the ultraviolet resonant scattering by magnesium ions (Mg + ) in an E s layer was observed during the evening twilight with the Magnesium Ion Imager (MII) on the sounding rocket launched from the Uchinoura Space Center in Kagoshima, Japan. The in situ electron density measured by an onboard impedance probe showed that the E s layer was located at an altitude of 100 km during both the ascent and descent of the flight. Simultaneous observation with a ground-based ionosonde at Yamagawa identified the signature of horizontally "patchy" structures in the E s layer. The MII successfully scanned the horizontal Mg + density perturbations in the E s layer and found that they had patchy and frontal structures. The horizontal scale and alignment of the observed frontal structure is generally consistent with a proposed theory. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of the two-dimensional horizontal structure of Mg + in an E s layer.Citation: Kurihara, J., et al. (2010), Horizontal structure of sporadic E layer observed with a rocket-borne magnesium ion imager,
The foil chaff technique is a simple in-situ technique to measure neutral winds in the mesopause region. In order to conduct foil chaff experiments by sounding rockets, two types of foil chaff ejection systems have been developed in Japan. The high resolution in altitude of the obtained neutral wind data by the foil chaff technique provides useful information for various studies on the dynamics in the mesopause region, when combined with simultaneous measurements of other geophysical parameters.
The IAF (Imaging Attitude Finder) is an imager using a one-dimensional multi-anode photomultiplier, and determines the attitude of a spinning sounding rocket with a precision of +/− 0.6• by finding out stars. One of the applications of IAF, MII (Magnesium Ion Imager) is a UV version of the former optimized for measuring the Mg + twilight airglow occurring at around 100 km, and images its horizontal structures by looking it from above.
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