One of the most interesting observations made by the Communication/Navigation Outage Forecasting System (C/NOFS) satellite mission was the detection of average equatorial ionospheric vertical drifts that largely differed from model predictions. C/NOFS measurements showed, in particular, downward drifts in the afternoon sector, and upward drifts around local midnight hours during the 2008 and 2009 extreme solar minimum. The unexpected behavior of the drifts has important implications for ionospheric modeling and suggests the necessity for a better understanding of the low‐latitude electrodynamics. We used ground‐based radar measurements to quantify the seasonal and solar flux variability of daytime equatorial drifts at lower altitudes (∼150 km) than those probed by C/NOFS (above ∼400 km). We found that average vertical drifts at 150 km altitude are in good agreement with model pre...

A new, 14-panel Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar (AMISR-14) system was recently deployed at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory. We present results of the first coherent backscatter radar observations of equatorial spread F (ESF) irregularities made with the system. Colocation with the 50 MHz Jicamarca Unattended Long-term studies of the Ionosphere and Atmosphere (JULIA) radar allowed unique simultaneous observations of meter and submeter irregularities. Observations from both systems produced similar Range-Time-Intensity maps during bottom-type and bottomside ESF events. We were also able to use the electronic beam steering capability of AMISR-14 to “image” scattering structures in the magnetic equatorial plane and track their appearance, evolution, and decay with a much larger field of view than previously possible at Jicamarca. The results suggest zonal variations in the inst...