Modeling the midlatitude F-region ionospheric storm using east-west drift and a meridional wind |
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| Authors: | DN Anderson |
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| Institution: | Space Environment Laboratory, NOAA Environmental Research Laboratories, Boulder, CO 80302, U.S.A. |
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| Abstract: | 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 drift. In this investigation only the neutral wind's meridional component and east-west 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. |
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