A numerical simulation study of the collisional-interchange instability seeded by the pre-reversal vertical drift

Autor(es)

Sousasantos, Jonas ^[1] ; Kherani, E. A. ^[1] ; Sobral, J. H. A. ^[1]

Afiliação do(s) autor(es)

^[1] DAE INPE, BR-12227010 Sao Jose Dos Campos, SP - Brazil

• Tipo de documento: Artigo Científico
• Fonte: JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS; v. 118, n. 11, p. 7438-7449, NOV 2013.
• Citações Web of Science: 9

Resumo

The collisional interchange instability (CII) is known to lead to the equatorial plasma bubble (EPB) development when the ionosphere is raised to higher altitudes by the prereversal electric field or vertical drift (PRVD). The PRVD presents considerable longitudinal variation (with scale size approximate to 15 degrees) across the sunset terminator and this variation may act as a seeding perturbation as proposed by Woodman (1994) and Huang and Kelley (1996b). In the present work, we examine the efficiency of this longitudinal variation of the PRVD to act as a seeding for the CII and to give rise to EPB in the absence of any other kind of initial perturbation. To do so, we carried out the CII simulation at the equator in a plane perpendicular to the magnetic field. We consider a few simplified cases choosing a Gaussian-shaped longitudinal variation of PRVD with various possible minimum and peak values and finally consider a realistic case with a spatial-temporal configuration of PRVD obtained using SAMI2 model. Simulations with simplified cases show that the EPB develops only for minimum value greater than 20m/s and amplitude (difference between the peak-to-minimum value) greater than 40m/s. Simulation with a realistic case shows that the PRVD during high solar flux summer satisfies these threshold conditions and with the seeding scale approximate to 15 degrees, the EPB of longitudinal size approximate to 2 degrees is developed toward east of the PRVD peak. (AU)

• Processo FAPESP: 11/21903-3 - Distúrbios ionosféricos viajantes: simulação e observação, a importância de latitudinal de acoplamento de ondas gravidade-instabilidades Perkins-Es-layer e de forçando desde a pré-sísmica eventos
• Beneficiário: Esfhan Alam Kherani
• Modalidade de apoio: Auxílio à Pesquisa - Jovens Pesquisadores