ALTITUDE PROFILE OF THE POLAR WIND VELOCITY AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO IONOSPHERIC CONDITIONS

We present Akebono observations of the polar wind velocity and the amb ient electron temperature in the polar ionosphere. The velocity of the H+ polar wind increases from about 1 km/s at 2000 km altitude to abou t 6 km/s at 4000 km altitude, and correlates with the local electron t emperature at a given altitude. It is only weakly dependent on magneti c activity, but is generally more variable at active times. Our observ ation demonstrates the direct relationship between the local magnitude of ion acceleration and that of the ambipolar electric field responsi ble for the acceleration.