Induction of Electric Currents in a Uniform Anisotropic Ionosphere

Abstract

THE problem of the induction of electric currents in a non-uniform ionosphere is of interest in geomagnetism. It was first studied by Ashour and Price¹ to determine the effects to be expected from the greater conductivity of the ionosphere over the sunlit hemisphere. Some time ago we considered the electric currents induced in a uniform anisotropic ionosphere (thus ignoring the difference in conductivity between the day and night hemispheres). We found that the anisotropy modifies only that part of the inducing field which is asymmetrical with respect to the geomagnetic axis, and that this asymmetrical part rotates about the geomagnetic axis from west to east at a rate depending on the Hall conductivity.