The transient response of the topside ionosphere to precipitation   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  

J.H. Whitteker 《Planetary and Space Science》1977,25(8):773-786

A numerical time-dependent model of the topside and F-layer ionosphere is used to describe how the density of O⁺ ions and the plasma temperatures change as a result of transient electron precipitation with a soft energy spectrum (ca. 100 eV per electron). The response time for electron gas heating is about 2 min; for changes in topside scale height it is from 5 to 15 min, depending on altitude; and for changes in F-layer peak density, it is more than an hour. The low-density topside ion gas is thermally isolated on a short time scale; consequently the ion temperature responds almost adiabatically to volume changes. A transient precipitation event (of, say, 10 min duration) initiates a disturbance that propagates upward at approximately the sonic upeed in the plasma (ca. 2km/s), growing in amplitude with height. Such an event has little effect on the density at the peak of the F layer. An element of ionosphere that drifts horizontally in an antisunward direction through the magnetospheric cleft and into the polar cap recieves some ionization from the cleft, but not enough to be decisive in its survival. The collapse of the topside when heating is removed increases temporarily the density of the F layer.  相似文献   

A numerical investigation of the formation and evolution of magnetospheric irregularities by the interchange of magnetic flux tubes     

P.G. Richards  K.D. Cole 《Planetary and Space Science》1979,27(11):1351-1360

The formation and evolution of magnetospheric irregularities by interchange of tubes of force, is studied through the solution of the electron and ion heat, and ion density equations. These calculations indicate that interchange of magnetic flux tubes may cause irregularities in the ionosphere and protonosphere. Ionospheric irregularities result from disturbance of the F-layer through electrodynamic movement vertically while the protonospheric irregularities result from variations in flux tube volume. It has been found that the temperature profile plays an important role in the variation of irregularity magnitude along flux tubes and that irregularities will persist for many hours at night. After several hours a small growth of the irregularities has been observed.  相似文献   

Induced proton flow in a collapsing post-sunset ionosphere and protonosphere     

J.A. Murphy  R.J. Moffett 《Planetary and Space Science》1978,26(3):281-288

The effect of the onset of post-sunset conditions on thermal proton flow is examined for mid-latitudes by numerical solution of the equations of continuity, momentum and energy balance for H⁺ and O⁺. Results are calculated for a dipole magnetic field tube situated at L = 4 and acceleration terms are included in the momentum equations. Proton flow into the ionosphere results from decay of the F2-layer. Changes in temperatures and temperature gradients following sunset may not enhance the H⁺ flow. Under extreme conditions the H⁺ flow remains subsonic. It seems unlikely that an interhemispheric flux of protons can directly maintain the nighttime F2-layer.  相似文献   

Topside ionosphere disturbance effects during different phases of two successive magnetic storms in september, 1963     

M.N. Fatkullin 《Planetary and Space Science》1972

Using the data obtained by means of the Alouette-1 satellite, the distribution of electron density in the region of the F2-layer maximum and topside ionosphere during different phases of two successive magnetic storms on September 13 and 16,1963 have been studied. The middle latitudes at local near noon and midnight hours have been considered mainly. It is shown that the daytime topside electron density at some altitudes did not change during the main phases of the two magnetic storms. The electron density decreases below these levels and increases above. During the recovery phases of both magnetic storms the increase in electron density remains at all altitudes from h_mF2 to 1000 km.  相似文献   

Short-wavelength drift dissipative instability in the presence of field-aligned currents     

A. Bhattacharyya  G.S. Lakhina 《Planetary and Space Science》1982,30(6):581-585

Sharp density gradients coupled with field-aligned currents can give rise to short wavelength (?15 m) drift waves due to collisional effects in the F-region of the auroral ionosphere. In this wavelength range, ion-ion collisions at altitudes of 300–450 km render the ions unmagnetized and a field-aligned current can drive a drift wave, propagating almost transverse to the magnetic field, unstable due to the resistance in electron parallel motion arising from electron collisions.  相似文献   

Electron content measurements of equatorial anomalous ionosphere using the geostationary satellite signals     

N.D. Kaushika 《Planetary and Space Science》1974,22(9):1309-1314

Measurements of electron content (N_T) near the crest of the equatorial ionosphere anomaly in South America have been made and analysed to investigate N_T variations with solar hour, solar rotation and geomagnetic storms. The annual mean of diurnal ratio, defined as the ratio of the maximum to the minimum electron content of the day is found to be 5.0. Anomalous increases in night time electron content are observed with maxima around 2100 LMT and 2300 LMT during summer and equinoctial months. These increases are found to be linked with vertical motion of the F-layer. Spatial resonance in equatorial F-layer plasma appears to be the possible cause of these increases.  相似文献   

Polarization fields produced by winds in the equatorial F-region     

H. Rishbeth 《Planetary and Space Science》1971

Neutral air winds blowing across the magnetic field cause a slow transverse drift of the positive ions, perpendicular to both the winds and the magnetic field. This drift sets up an electric polarization field which can only be neutralized by currents flowing along magnetic field lines and through the E-layer. But at night the E-layer conductivity may be too small to close this circuit, so that polarization fields build up in the F-layer, causing the plasma to drift with the wind. This polarization effect may influence the behaviour of the nighttime equatorial F-layer and contribute to ‘superrotation’ of the atmosphere.  相似文献   

A snapshot of the polar ionosphere     

J.H. Whitteker  L.H. Brace  E.J. Maier  J.R. Burrows  W.H. Dodson  J.D. Winningham 《Planetary and Space Science》1976,24(1):25-32

This paper presents a picture of the north polar F layer and topside ionosphere obtained primarily from three satellites (Alouette 2, ISIS 1, ISIS 2), that passed over the region within a time interval of ca. 50 min on 25 April 1971, a magnetically quiet day. The horizontal distribution of electron densities at the peak of the F layer is found to be similar to synoptic results from the IGY. Energetic particle and ionospheric plasma data are also presented, and the F layer data are discussed in terms of these measurements, and also in terms of electric field and neutral N₂ density measurements made by other satellites on other occasions. The major features observed are as follows: A tongue of F region ionization extends from the dayside across the polar cap, which is accounted for by antisunward drift due to magnetospheric convection. In the F layer and topside ionosphere, the main effect of auroral precipitation appears to be heating and expansion of the topside. A region of low F layer density appears on the morning side of the polar cap, which may be due to convection and possibly also to enhanced N₂ densities.  相似文献   

Plasma bubbles near the dawn terminator in the topside ionosphere     

William I. Burke 《Planetary and Space Science》1979,27(9):1187-1193

The physical properties of plasma bubbles in the topside ionosphere near the dawn terminator are investigated. It is assumed that the bubbles result from either a Rayleigh-Taylor or an $\text{E}\text{×}\text{B}$ instability on the bottom side of the F-layer. While the E-region is in darkness, the top and bottomsides of the ionosphere are electrically decoupled and the motion of bubbles can be described by non-linear, two-dimensional theory. After sunrise, electric fields within the bubbles discharge through the conducting lower ionosphere. The upward drift of the bubbles is effectively halted. To achieve a dayside state of diffusive equilibrium the bubbles slowly begin to collapse from the bottom.  相似文献   

Large density fluctuations in the martian ionosphere as observed by the Mars Express radar sounder     

D.A. Gurnett  D.D. Morgan  F. Akalin  R.A. Frahm  S. Barabash 《Icarus》2010,206(1):83-94

The MARSIS (Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding) instrument on the Mars Express spacecraft provides both local and remote measurements of electron densities and measurements of magnetic fields in the martian ionosphere. The density measurements show a persistent level of large fluctuations, sometimes as much as a factor of three or more at high altitudes. Large magnetic field fluctuations are also observed in the same region. The power spectrums of both the density and magnetic field fluctuations have slopes on a log-log plot that are consistent with the Kolmogorov spectrum for isotropic fluid turbulence. The fractional density fluctuation, Δn_e/n_e, of the turbulence increases with altitude, and reaches saturation, Δn_e/n_e ∼ 1, at an altitude of about 400 km, near the nominal boundary between the ionosphere and the magnetosheath. The fluctuations are usually so large that a well-defined ionopause-like boundary between the ionosphere and the solar wind is seldom observed. Of mechanisms that could be generating this turbulence, we believe that the most likely are (1) solar wind pressure perturbations, (2) an instability in the magnetosheath plasma, such as the mirror-mode instability, or (3) the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability driven by velocity shear between the rapidly flowing magnetosheath and the ionosphere.  相似文献   

Determination of ionospheric electron content from the Faraday rotation of geostationary satellite signals     

J.E. Titheridge 《Planetary and Space Science》1972

Calculations using a wide range of model ionospheres (with a peak at 300 km) show that the integrated electron content up to the height of the satellite could be up to four times the value deduced from Faraday rotation measurements. However, using a fixed mean field height of 400 km, the observed Faraday rotation gives the electron content up to a height h_F of 2000 km with an accuracy of ±3 per cent. For observations at different magnetic and geographic latitudes, and geostationary satellites at different longitudes, the optimum value of h_F varies by only ±200 km. Night-time increases in the height of the ionosphere have little effect on h_F, but increase the mean field height to about 470 km. Using a fixed value of 420 km, with h_F = 2000 km, gives an accuracy of ±5 per cent under most conditions.  相似文献   

Dynamical behavior of thermal protons in the mid-latitude ionosphere and magnetosphere     

P.M. Banks  A.F. NagyW.I. Axford 《Planetary and Space Science》1971

Satellite and other observations have shown that H⁺ densities in the mid-latitude topside ionosphere are greatly reduced during magnetic storms when the plasmapause and magnetic field convection move to relatively low L-values. In the recovery phase of the magnetic storm the convection region moves to higher L-values and replenishment of H⁺ in the empty magnetospheric field tubes begins. The upwards flow of H⁺, which arises from O⁺—H charge exchange, is initially supersonic. However, as the field tubes fill with plasma, a shock front moves downwards towards the ionosphere, eventually converting the upwards flow to subsonic speeds. The duration of this supersonic recovery depends strongly on the volume of the field tube; for example calculations indicate that for L = 5 the time is approximately 22 hours. The subsonic flow continues until diffusive equilibrium is reached or a new magnetic storm begins. Calculations of the density and flux profiles expected during the subsonic phase of the recovery show that diffusive equilibrium is still not reached after an elapsed time of 10 days and correspondingly there is still a net loss of plasma from the ionosphere to the magnetosphere at that time. This slow recovery of the H⁺ density and flux patterns, following magnetic storms, indicates that the mid-latitude topside ionosphere may be in a continual dynamic state if the storms occur sufficiently often.  相似文献   

Modelling of thermospheric composition changes caused by a severe magnetic storm     

H. Rishbeth  R. Gordon  D. Rees  T.J. Fuller-Rowell 《Planetary and Space Science》1985,33(11):1283-1301

The UCL 3-dimensional time-dependent thermospheric model, with atomic and molecular components, is used to study composition changes in the neutral gas at F-layer heights produced by a severe magnetic storm. The computations give the mean molecular weight (MW), temperature and winds as functions of latitude, longitude, height and time for a period of 30 h.Starting from quiet-day conditions, the simulation starts with a 6-h “substorm” period in which strong electric fields are imposed in the auroral ovals, accompanied by particle input. Weaker electric fields are imposed for the remaining 24 h of the simulation. The energy input causes upwelling of air in the northern and southern auroral ovals, accompanied by localized composition changes (increases of MW), which spread no more than a few hundred kilometres from the energy sources. There is a corresponding downward settling of air at winter midlatitudes and low latitudes, producing widespread decreases of MW at a fixed pressure-level. These storm effects are superimposed on the quiet-day summer-to-winter circulation, in which upwelling occurs in the summer hemisphere and down welling in the winter hemisphere. The composition changes seen at a fixed height differ somewhat from those at a fixed pressure-level, because of the expansion resulting from the storm heating.The results can be related to the well-known prevalence of “negative” F-layer storms (with decreases of F2-layer electron density) in summer, and “positive” F-layer storms in winter and at low latitudes. However, the modelled composition changes are not propagated far enough to account for the observed occurrence of negative storms at some distance from the auroral ovals. This difficulty might be overcome if particle heating occurs well equatorward of the auroral ovals during magnetic storms, producing composition changes and negative storm effects at midlatitudes. Winds do not seem a likely cause of negative storm effects, but other factors (such as increases of vibrationally-excited N₂) are possibly important.  相似文献   

Nighttime proton fluxes at Millstone Hill     

J.V. Evans  J.M. Holt 《Planetary and Space Science》1978,26(8):727-744

Incoherent scatter measurements of electron density and vertical O⁺ fluxes over Millstone Hill (42.6°N, 71.5°W) previously have been used to study the exchange of plasma between the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. During the daytime there is usually an upward flux of O⁺ ions above about 450 km that can be measured readily and equated to the escaping proton flux. At night the O⁺ fluxes usually are downwards everywhere owing to the decay of the F-layer, and it becomes difficult to detect effects due an arriving proton flux. In a new study of the nighttime fluxes, appeal was made to the estimated abundance of the H⁺ ions in the upper F-region which can be extracted from the observations. From a study of the behavior on 25 days over the interval 1969–1973, we conclude that in the daytime the flux always is upwards and close to its limiting value. This situation persists throughout the night in summer at times of high sunspot activity (e.g., 1969). There is a period of downward flux prior to ionospheric sunrise on winter nights whose duration increases with decreasing sunspot number. As sunspot minimum is approached (e.g., in 1973) downward fluxes are encountered for a brief period prior to ionospheric sunrise in summer also. Thus, over most parts of sunspot cycle, it appears that the protonosphere supplies ionization to the winter night ionosphere, while being maintained from the summer hemisphere. This helps explain the smallness of the day-to-night variations reported for the electron content of magnetospheric flux tubes near L = 4 in the American sector.  相似文献   

Electrical coupling of the E- and F-regions and its effect on F-region drifts and winds     

R.A. Heelis  P.C. Kendall  R.J. Moffett  D.W. Windle  H. Rishbeth 《Planetary and Space Science》1974,22(5):743-756

Electric currents, generated by thermospheric winds, flow along the geomagnetic field lines linking the E-and F-regions. Their effects on the electric field distribution are investigated by solving the electrical and dynamical equations. The input data include appropriate models of the F-region tidal winds, the thermospheric pressure distribution and the E-and F-layer concentrations. At the magnetic equator, the calculated neutral air wind at 240 km height has a prevailling eastward component of 55 m sec^-1 and the west-east and vertical ion drifts agree in their general form with incoherent scatter data from Jicamarca  相似文献   

Simultaneous geomagnetic and ionospheric oscillations caused by hydromagnetic waves     

J. Klostermeyer  J. Röttger 《Planetary and Space Science》1976,24(11):1065-1071

During magnetically quiet or slightly disturbed nights, closely correlated oscillations of the geomagnetic field and the F-layer were observed by means of magnetometers and a vertical-icidence continuous-wave Doppler sounder at 3.57 MHz. The magnetic oscillations were mostly Pi2 pulsations with periods from 0.5 to 2 min, and an amplitude of 10^?9 T corresponding to a Doppler shift of the order of 0.3 Hz. The observations cannot be explained by a dynamo-motor hypothesis assuming that the magnetic and ionospheric oscillations are caused by alternating E-layer currents, but they agree well with the theory of downgoing hydromagnetic waves. In particular, this theory explains the observed effects due to sporadic E-layer ionization and ion-neutral collisions. The results are found to differ substantially from those of other authors.  相似文献   

Interhemispheric flow of thermal plasma in a closed magnetic flux tube at mid-latitudes under sunspot minimum conditions     

G.J. Bailey  R.J. Moffett  J.A. Murphy 《Planetary and Space Science》1978,26(8):753-765

The coupled H⁺ and O⁺ time-dependent continuity and momentum equations are solved within a region of the L = 3 magnetic flux tube lying between (and including) the F2-layers of conjugate hemispheres. The method of solution is an extended and modified version of the Murphy et al. (1976) method. The model is used to study the coupling between the F2-layers of conjugate hemispheres during magnetically quiet periods.The results of the calculations strongly indicate that the protonosphere acts as a reservoir, with variable H⁺ content, which prevents direct coupling between the F2-layers of conjugate hemispheres. However there is generally a significant interhemispheric flow of plasma. This flow is caused by conditions in the summer and winter topside ionospheres and it maintains continuity in the plasma concentration within the protonosphere. There are times when the direction of flow is from the winter hemisphere to the summer hemisphere. It is suggested that maintenance of the winter F2-layer at night is not assisted directly by the F2-layer of the conjugate summer hemisphere.It is shown that during the first few days of protonosphere replenishment after a magnetic storm there is an upflow of H⁺ in the topside ionosphere at all times in the summer hemisphere. There is also an upflow of H⁺ during the daytime in both hemispheres. A comparison with the results obtained when the interhemispheric H⁺ flux is held permanently at zero shows that both F2-layers are little affected by the interhemispheric H⁺ flux. Nevertheless both F2-layers are affected by the H⁺ tube content of the protonosphere. When the H⁺ flux at 1000 km in one hemisphere is much greater than the H⁺ flux at 1000 km in the conjugate hemisphere, there is a corresponding signature in the interhemispheric H⁺ flux.The results suggest that there is insufficient time between magnetic storms for complete replenishment of the protonosphere to occur.  相似文献   

Geographical distribution and simultaneity of occurrence of F-lacunae     

M. Sylvain  S. Cartron 《Planetary and Space Science》1979,27(10):1293-1301

Observation of ionograms recorded at about fifteen high latitude stations shows there the same morphological types of F-lacunae (disappearance of echoes from the F1, the F2 or the complete F-layer) as in Terre Adélie. The phenomenon is aestival and diurnal everywhere, but the shape of occurrence histograms varies from one station to another. A statistical study shows that the occurrence in the various stations (of the same hemisphere) is correlated, all the more as the considered stations have similar invariant latitudes. Occurrence is correlated with the daily index of magnetic activity A_p, a correlation which is maximum at about 75° invariant latitude and decreases on both sides. A study of particular events shows a clear relation between lacunae occurrence and the position and moving of the cleft (as deduced empirically from the K_p index), results which can be interpreted in terms of a previously described model.  相似文献   

Modeling the midlatitude F-region ionospheric storm using east-west drift and a meridional wind     

D.N. Anderson 《Planetary and Space Science》1976,24(1):69-77

Under magnetically quiet conditions, ionospheric plasma in the midlatitude F-region corotates with the Earth and relative east-west drifts are small compared to the corotation velocity. During magnetic storms, however, the enhanced dawn-to-dusk magnetospheric convection electric field often penetrates into the midlatitude region, where it maps into the ionosphere as a poleward electric field in the 18:00 LT sector, producing a strong westward plasma drift. To evaluate the ionospheric response to this east-west drift, the time-dependent O⁺ continuity equation is solved numerically, including the effects of production by photoionization, loss by charge exchange and transport by diffusion, neutral wind and $\text{E}\text{×}\text{B}$ drift. In this investigation only the neutral wind's meridional component and east-west $\text{E}\text{×}\text{B}$ drift are included. It is found that an enhanced equatorward wind coupled with westward drift produces an enhancement in the peak electron density (NMAX(F2)) and in the electron content (up to 1000 km) in the afternoon sector and a subsequent greater-than-normal decay in ionization after 18:00 LT. These results agree in general with midlatitude F-region ionospheric storm observations of NMAX(F2) and electron content which show an afternoon enhancement over quiet-time values followed by an abrupt transition to lower-than-normal values. Westward drift appears to be a sufficient mechanism in bringing about this sharp transition.  相似文献   

Effects of convection electric field on the thermal plasma flow between the ionosphere and the protonosphere     

K. Marubashi 《Planetary and Space Science》1979,27(5):603-615

Dynamic behavior of the coupled ionosphere-protonosphere system in the magnetospheric convection electric field has been theoretically studied for two plasmasphere models. In the first model, it is assumed that the whole plasmasphere is in equilibrium with the underlying ionosphere in a diurnal average sense. The result for this model shows that the plasma flow between the ionosphere and the protonosphere is strongly affected by the convection electric field as a result of changes in the volume of magnetic flux tubes associated with the convective cross-L motion. Since the convection electric field is assumed to be directed from dawn to dusk, magnetic flux tubes expand on the dusk side and contract on the dawn side when rotating around the earth. The expansion of magnetic flux tubes on the dusk side causes the enhancement of the upward H⁺ flow, whereas the contraction on the dawn side causes the enhancement of the downward H⁺ flow. Consequently, the H⁺ density decreases on the dusk side and increases on the dawn side. It is also found that significant latitudinal variations in the ionospheric structures result from the L-dependency of these effects. In particular, the H⁺ density at 1000 km level becomes very low in the region of the plasmasphere bulge on the dusk side. In the second model, it is assumed that the outer portion of the plasmasphere is in the recovery state after depletions during geomagnetically disturbed periods. The result for this model shows that the upward H⁺ flux increases with latitude and consequently the H⁺ density decreases with latitude in the region of the outer plasmasphere. In summary, the present theoretical study provides a basis for comparison between the equatorial plasmapause and the trough features in the topside ionosphere.  相似文献