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Scale sizes and lifetimes of f region plasma cloud striations as determined by the condition of marginal stability. Memorandum report

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:6115686
The two dimensional integrated Pedersen conductivity model for F region plasma cloud striation development may be cast in dimensionless form. The result implies that a structure's stability against bifurcation depends upon whether a diffusion parameter R exceeds a critical value. The critical R for striations is determined by high resolution computer simulation for conductivity ratios M from 2 to 30. Our results combined with electron diffusivity of order 1 square meter/sec agree with observed minimum scale sizes of 15 meters. For turbulent diffusivity of order 100 square meter/sec, our results agree with frequent observations of kilometer-scale structures which 'freeze up' and last for times of order 10000 seconds. This lifetime is also predicted by our results.
Research Organization:
Naval Research Lab., Washington, DC (USA)
OSTI ID:
6115686
Report Number(s):
AD-A-092568
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English