Rocket measurements of the geomagnetic field above Woomera, south Australia

Two British Skylark research rockets, each carrying a proton magnetometer, were flown from the Woomera Rocket Range, South Australia, in March 1964. The first flight merely recorded an approximately inverse cube law variation of magnetic field with height, but on the second flight a magnetic discontinuity, of approximately 24 γ amplitude, was recorded. These results are consistent with ground observations at the times of the two flights, and they establish experimentally the existence of an electric current system in the E region of the ionosphere over South Australia. The height and vertical thickness of the current are, however, not in close agreement with theoretical predictions.