Auroral radar frequency broadening measurements at large aspect angles and comparison with theory

Physics – Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

2

Auroral Electrojets, Backscattering, Collision Rates, Coupled Modes, Ion Acoustic Waves, Plasma Turbulence, Radar Echoes, Radar Measurement, Radio Auroras, Space Plasmas, Doppler Radar, Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

The observed characteristics of radio auroral backscatter at large aspect angles have never been adequately explained by theories of plasma turbulence that otherwise seem to be satisfactory. Recently, the first nonlinear theory on the subject has appeared in the open literature. In this theory, under the action of a driving electric field, the maximum aspect angle depends on the combined contribution of frequency broadening due to mode coupling and anisotropic anomalous collisions caused by the interaction of electrons with the fluctuating electric fields in the waves. In this paper an attempt is made to test the theoretical predictions by comparing them to observations of mean frequency broadening during typical auroral electrojet conditions. The analysis was based on a large number Doppler spectra compiled from several VHF radar backscatter experiments with magnetic aspect angles in the range from about 1 to 10 deg. The theory fails to explain echo occurrence at directions perpendicular to the E x B flow, but otherwise it can account for most of the observations. The evidence shows that the effect on large aspect echoes of frequency broadening alone is insufficient and that the key role in fitting the data is played by the parallel anomalous collision frequency nu*e parallel. The agreement between theory and experiment, however, is possible only for large enhancements of nu*e parallel relative to the normal electron neutral collison frequency nue, with the increase ranging between 1 and 2 orders of magnitude. This imposes difficulties because the large nu*e parallel/nue ratios imply a pronounced ion acoustic plasma turbulence along B inside the electrojet layer. To our knowledge, there is no observational evidence to support this theoretical implication.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Auroral radar frequency broadening measurements at large aspect angles and comparison with theory does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Auroral radar frequency broadening measurements at large aspect angles and comparison with theory, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Auroral radar frequency broadening measurements at large aspect angles and comparison with theory will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-887438

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.