Neutral wave-driven dynamo production of ultra-low-frequency fluctuations in the ionospheric electric field

Journal Article · Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1988 · Antarctic Journal of the United States; (United States)

OSTI ID:5312082

Bering, III, E A; Benbrook, J R; Byrne, G J; Theall, J R ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Houston, TX (USA)

The study of the perturbation of the ionosphere by upper-atmospheric neutral waves has been a subject of major interest for more than 30 years. The initial energy source for these waves in weather activity in the troposphere. In the absence of dissipation, neutral waves propagating upward through an atmosphere with exponentially decreasing density will grow exponentially in amplitude due to the conservation of energy. In the E layer of the ionosphere, collisions keep the ions coupled strongly to the neutral gas, whereas the electron-neutral collisions have become so infrequent that the electrons are magnetized and held fixed with respect to the Earth's magnetic field. Therefore, in the E layer, neutral wind fluctuations will move the ions with respect to the electrons, thus driving currents and building up space charge to create an electric field. Historically, this topic has been investigated at mid- and low-latitude because auroral processes can easily dominate the atmospheric dynamo signature at higher latitude (Mozer 1971). Recent evidence suggests that neutral wave-driven dynamo fields can be an important signal source at high-latitude during geomagnetically quiet times (Earle and Kelly 1987); however, Earle and Kelley's argument was based on statistical comparison of spectral shapes. Simultaneous direct observations of lower atmosphere neutral-wind waves and upper atmosphere electric fields were lacking. This paper will present an example of just such an observation.

• OSTI ID: 5312082
• Journal Information: Antarctic Journal of the United States; (United States), Vol. 23:5; ISSN 0003-5335
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
IONOSPHERE
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ANTARCTICA
FLUCTUATIONS
GRAVITY WAVES
NEUTRAL PARTICLES
POLAR CUSP
STRATOSPHERE
WAVE PROPAGATION
ANTARCTIC REGIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
PARTICLES
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
POLAR REGIONS
VARIATIONS
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena