The solar flux influence on quiet time conductances in the auroral ionosphere

Abstract

Hall and Pedersen conductances derived from EISCAT Common Program 1 (CP‐1) data during half a solar cycle are presented. The data set consists of 9 quiet summer days with 10.7‐cm solar flux ( S a ) ranging from solar minimum ( S a =74) to solar maximum ( S a =248) conditions. The solar flux and the solar zenith angle (χ) dependence of Hall (∑ H ) and Pedersen (∑ P ) conductances are well represented by respectively. The present results are in good agreement with the theoretical model calculations by Rasmussen et al. [1988] for solar minimum conditions. For higher solar activity levels, however, our model gives consistently higher conductance values than older models.