Statistics – Computation
Scientific paper
May 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004phdt.......229d&link_type=abstract
Thesis (PhD). BOSTON UNIVERSITY, Source DAI-B 64/11, p. 5581, May 2004, 171 pages.
Statistics
Computation
Scientific paper
Small-scale plasma turbulence plays an important role in the evolution of ionospheric processes. Nevertheless, understanding the impact of Debye length scale physics on larger scale systems has remained difficult due to both limits on computational power and the designs of space plasma simulations. This thesis presents research overcoming these limitations for two topics in ionospheric physics: meteor trails and beam-driven auroral plasmas. This thesis examines the large-scale impact of small-scale turbulence on both these systems. Modeling large-scale processes using the parameters and physics revealed by small-scale plasma simulations resulted in several discoveries summarized as follows. Meteor trail instabilities and turbulence have dramatic effects on meteor evolution and observation. These effects include a turbulent trail diffusion rate that is up to an order of magnitude faster than laminar diffusion. Comparisons between radar observations of meteor trails and simulations show this turbulence generates electron density structures that make meteor trails observable by large-aperture radars. This discovery explains many aspects of meteor trail observations including the origin of non-specular trails. Research on electron holes, a common feature of the downward current region of the auroral ionosphere, shows that electron holes induce an anomalous resistivity, launch waves, and cause electron heating. Further, it shows that electron hole resistivity could support parallel potential drops of near 1 KeV and explain coincident satellite observations of electron beams, ion conics, electron holes, and plasma waves known as VLF saucers.
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