JULIA RADAR STUDIES OF ELECTRIC-FIELDS IN THE EQUATORIAL ELECTROJET

First results from the JULIA radar at Jicamarca are presented. These i nclude coherent scatter observations of the equatorial electrojet and of 150-km echoes. Interferometry is used to measure the zonal drift ra te of kilometer scale waves in the electrojet as functions of altitude . A technique for estimating the background zonal electric field from the interferometry data is described. The electric field estimates can be calibrated against the Doppler speed of the 150-km echoes when the latter are present. The kilometer-scale wave drifts sometimes exhibit large-amplitude, periodic height variations with vertical wavelengths of about 10 km. These signatures are reminiscent of the wind profiles measured with chemical release techniques in the lower thermosphere d uring the Guard campaign.