Computer simulation of the Farley-Buneman instability and anomalous electron heating in the auroral ionosphere

Journal Article · Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 1988 · J. Geophys. Res.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/JA093iA09p09993· OSTI ID:6919859

Machida, S; Goertz, C K

We study the nonlinear saturation of the Farley-Buneman instability in a collisional plasma by a 2 1/2 dimensional electrostatic particle simulation which includes inelastic and elastic collisions of electrons and elastic collision of ions with neutrals. In our simulation, a uniform convection electric field is applied externally so that the relative velocity between the electrons and ions is greater than the ion sound speed and destabilizes the instability. We find a nonlinear frequency shift from higher to lower frequencies and diffusion of the wave spectrum in two dimensional wave number space. We are especially interested in finding whether the saturated wave turbulence can account for the anomalous heating rates observed in the polar ionosphere by Schlegel and St.-Maurice (1981). We find that the dominant mechanism for electron heating is due to an enhanced effective electron collision frequency and hence enhanced resistive heating as suggested by Primdahl (1986) and Robinson (1986) and not due to the heating of electrons by the electric field of the waves parallel to the magnetic field. For the ionospheric conditions discussed by Schlegel and St.-Maurice (1981) we find an anomalous heating rate of about 4 x 10/sup -7/ W/m/sup 3/. copyright American Geophysical Union 1988

• Research Organization: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City
• OSTI ID: 6919859
• Journal Information: J. Geophys. Res.; (United States), Vol. 93:A9
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
IONOSPHERE
PLASMA HEATING
PLASMA INSTABILITY
AURORAL ZONES
COLLISIONAL PLASMA
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
ELECTRIC FIELDS
ELECTRON COLLISIONS
INSTABILITY GROWTH RATES
ION-MOLECULE COLLISIONS
COLLISIONS
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
HEATING
INSTABILITY
ION COLLISIONS
MOLECULE COLLISIONS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLASMA
SIMULATION
640201* - Atmospheric Physics- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena