Discussion of paper by John R. Spreiter and Benjamin R. Briggs on “Theory of electrostatic fields in the ionosphere at polar and middle geomagnetic latitudes”

In their paper Spreiter and Briggs [1961] presented new computations of the electrostatic coupling between the E and F regions, based on ionospheric data much more extensive and reliable than that used in my earlier calculations [Farley, 1959; 1960]. The numerical results obtained were similar to mine but indicated an even stronger degree of coupling. In discussing the boundary condition at infinity to be used in the calculation, Spreiter and Briggs made some points that I believe could be debated, but since any differences of opinion that we may have are rather academic and do not affect the final answer, there seems to be little point in discussing them here. I certainly agree with their final results, which undoubtedly will be of interest in connection with various ionospheric problems.