Ionospheric ion velocity distributions and associated transport properties in the presence of auroral electric field gradients

Details Ionospheric ion velocity distributions and associated transport properties in the presence of auroral electric field gradients Ionospheric ion velocity distributions and associated transport properties in the presence of auroral electric field gradients

Oct 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994jgr....9919527s&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 99, no. A10, p. 19,527-19,548

Physics

12

Auroras, Electric Fields, F Region, Ions, Magnetic Fields, Transport Properties, Velocity Distribution, Hall Effect, Kinetics, Monte Carlo Method

Scientific paper

We have studied the response of the ionospheric F region to intense horizontal gradients in the convection electric field, using a kinetic theory of the ion gas. In the boundary regions where the electric field changes rapidly in space, we have found that the local ion velocity distribution can become markedly asymmetric in a direction that is perpendicular to that of the magnetic field. The degree of asymmetry depends on the local electric field and on the magnitude of the shears. There is also a marked contrast between situations for which the electric field increases in its own direction as opposed to when it decreases along that direction. An integral part of our kinetic solution is the presence of a time-dependent ion density, associated with a change in the net charge and therefore with the divergence of the electric field. This is a result of current continuity requirements for the problem at hand. A more unexpected result is that the mean ion drift differs markedly from the local value of the E x B drift as well. This behavior could lead to strong Hall currents in the regions of convection shears and cause a Farley-Buneman type of instability at F region heights.

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