Generation and evolution of equatorial ionospheric plasma bubbles measured by the C/NOFS satellite during deep solar minimum

Details Generation and evolution of equatorial ionospheric plasma bubbles measured by the C/NOFS satellite during deep solar minimum Generation and evolution of equatorial ionospheric plasma bubbles measured by the C/NOFS satellite during deep solar minimum

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsa51b1623h&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SA51B-1623

Physics

[2415] Ionosphere / Equatorial Ionosphere, [2437] Ionosphere / Ionospheric Dynamics, [2439] Ionosphere / Ionospheric Irregularities, [2471] Ionosphere / Plasma Waves And Instabilities

Scientific paper

An unexpected feature revealed by the C/NOFS measurements is the presence of deep plasma depletions in the midnight and dawn sectors. Our purpose is to study where the postmidnight plasma bubbles start to occur, how long they exist, and what the maximum size of the bubble is. The orbit of C/NOFS can be approximately parallel to the geomagnetic equator over a large local time range. If a plasma bubble exists long enough, it may be detected by C/NOFS over successive orbits. The C/NOFS measurements can be used to trace the growth and development of plasma bubbles. In two cases, ion density perturbations and enhanced ion vertical velocity are first identified in the topside F region at ~22:00 LT, suggesting that the plasma bubbles start to form earlier at lower altitudes. The density perturbations grow into deep depletions after they corotate with the Earth to the post-midnight sector. The observations show that the plasma bubbles observed in the midnight-dawn sector may originate in the evening sector. The plasma bubbles continue growing for ~4 hours, and the plasma flow inside the bubbles remain upward for ~8 hours. The 4-hour developing period may correspond to the time which a plasma bubble takes to ascend to the maximum altitude. The 8-hour lifetime implies that the decay time of the bubbles is unusually long and that the bubbles do not become dead/fossil bubbles throughout the entire night time from evening to dawn. The bubbles disappear near dawn when the newly produced plasma particles by photo-ionization fill the depleted region. The longitudinal width of a single, fully developed plasma bubble can reach 700 km at the altitude range of 400-500 km. The C/NOFS measurements reveal significant, new characteristics of equatorial plasma bubbles during deep solar minimum.

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