Ionospheric electron content across the Antarctic continent

Observations of satellite passes monitored at Halley and Terra Nova Bay hav e been combined to produce for the first time measurements of ionospheric e lectron content spanning the Antarctic continent. Results are presented fro m a sequence of four successive passes made during a period of some two hou rs that illustrate the development of the ionosphere over this wide spatial region. The observations are discussed in terms of the convective behaviou r of the ionization, using results from the PACE radar and a standard model of the plasma flow.