This project uses data from digital ionosondes (digisonde) in Puerto Rico and Argentina in order to study how ionospheric properties in the two hemispheres are coupled along magnetic field lines. The measured critical frequencies and peak heights of the F region will be used in conjunction with a model to calculate plasma densities, temperatures, and ion velocities along the entire magnetic flux tube. The measurements will be coordinated with observations made by the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar and will be an important element of an experimental campaign to study mid-latitude spread F at solar minimum and the plasma instabilities associated with sporadic E layers. The data will be used to estimate conductivities which can be used to determine the control exerted in each hemisphere on the local F region dynamo behavior. The digisonde technique offers the possibility for low cost monitoring of global electron density and plasma drifts.
