Abstract
The behavior of the F2 layer at sunrise has been studied based on vertical-incidence ionospheric sounding data in Almaty (76°55′E, 43°15′N). Records with small amplitudes of electron density background fluctuations were selected in order to exactly estimate the onsets of a pronounced increase in the electron density at different altitudes. It has been indicated that the electron density growth rate is a function of altitude; in this case, the growth rate at the F2 layer maximum is much lower than such values at fixed altitudes of ∼30–55 km below the layer maximum. The solar zenith angle (χ) and the blanketing layer thickness (h 0) at the beginning of a pronounced increase in the electron density at altitude h are linearly related to the h value, and these quantities vary within ∼90° < χ < 100° and 180 km < h 0 < 260 km, respectively.