Positive ion composition of a temperate-latitude sporadic<i>E</i>layer as observed during a rocket flight

Abstract

An Aerobee rocket carrying a positive ion composition experiment traversed a dense sporadic E layer on both the up- and downleg portions of flight. The results of the experiment suggest that the positive ions comprising this layer were of a metallic nature. NO+, the dominant E-region ion at the time of flight, was undetected within the sporadic E layer, although it was the major ion both immediately above and below it. The results of the experiment are compared to some theoretical predictions from the wind-shear theory of sporadic E.