Ion composition of the topside equatorial ionosphere during solar minimum

We have used observations from both the Bennett ion mass spectrometer and the retarding potential analyzer on board the Atmosphere Explorer E satellite to study the longitudinally averaged O + , H + , and He + concentrations from 150 to 1100 km in the equatorial ionosphere during the 1975–1976 solar minimum. Our results suggest that the ion mass spectrometer measurements need to be increased by a factor of 2.15 to agree with the densities from the retarding potential analyzer and with ground‐based measurements. The peak H + concentrations are about 2.5×10 4 cm −3 during the day and 10 4 cm −3 at night and vary little with season. The O + /H + transition altitude lies between 750 and 825 km during the day and between 550 and 600 km at night. He + is a minor species at all altitudes; its concentration is highly variable with a maximum value of about 10 3 cm −3 during equinox daytime.