INFERRED QUASI-STEADY IONOSPHERIC NEUTRAL WINDS AND ELECTRICAL CURRENTS AT 79-DEGREES SOUTH LATITUDE IN AUSTRAL SUMMER CONDITIONS

An analysis of the range of geomagnetic variations as measured at Arri val Heights and South Pole stations in the Antarctic over an 8-year in terval during the present solar cycle shows that there am quasi-DC lev el shifts in some of the magnetic components during austral summer con ditions when referenced to austral winter. The most dramatic of these level shifts in the signals occurs in the D-component (west-east magne tic component) at Arrival Heights (geomagnetic latitude approximately 79-degrees-S). The onsets of the D-component shifts occur during a per iod that lasts one to several days in late austral spring. Such geomag netic variations would not appear to arise from magnetosphere processe s coupling to the ionospheric E-region. The inferred quasi-steady iono spheric current is estimated to be of the order of approximately 10(5) amps above Arrival Heights. It is speculated that neutral wind dynami cs with quasi-steady E-region (approximately 110-115 km) neutral wind speeds of approximately 10 m/sec directed east to west above AH are re sponsible for generating the austral summer electrical currents in the E-region.