Influence of velocity shear on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability. Memorandum report

Technical Report · Wed Dec 16 04:00:00 EST 1981

OSTI ID:5128702

Guzdar, P N; Satyanarayana, P; Huba, J D; Ossakow, S L

The influence of a transverse velocity shear on the Rayleigh-Taylor instability is investigated. It is found that a sheared velocity flow can substantially reduce the growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability in the short wavelength regime (i.e., kL > 1 where L is the scale length of the density inhomogeneity), and causes the growth rate to maximize at kL < 1.0. Applications of this result to ionospheric phenomena (equatorial spread F (ESF) and ionospheric plasma clouds) are discussed. In particular, the effect of shear could account for, at times, the 100's of km modulation observed on the bottomside of the ESF ionosphere and the km scale size wavelengths observed in barium cloud prompt striation phenomena.

• Research Organization: Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (USA)
• OSTI ID: 5128702
• Report Number(s): AD-A-108800/4; NRL-MR-4701
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
&amp; Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
F REGION
FLUID FLOW
INSTABILITY
IONOSPHERE
MATHEMATICAL MODELS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
RAYLEIGH-TAYLOR INSTABILITY
SHEAR PROPERTIES
SPREAD F
VELOCITY
WAVE PROPAGATION