Phase velocities of irregularities in the equatorial electrojet.
Spectral decomposition of the power spectrum of radar echoes at 50 MHz from the equatorial electrojet reveals information as to the phase velocities of several classes of electron density irregularities and permits inferences as to the electron drift velocity and the electron and ion temperatures in the electrojet. In particular, it is shown that the phase velocity of two-stream irregularities is comparable to the ion-acoustic speed and independent of the horizontal phase velocity of coexistent non-two-stream irregularities. The latter can exceed the ion-acoustic speed and is probably a measure of the electron drift velocity. Thus a probable inference is that the electron drift velocity can itself be supersonic, contrary to some existing theoretical opinions.