The anomalous diffusion of meteor trails

Details The anomalous diffusion of meteor trails The anomalous diffusion of meteor trails

Jul 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001georl..28.2775d&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 28, Issue 14, p. 2775-2778

Physics

Plasma Physics

33

Ionosphere: Ionospheric Dynamics, Ionosphere: Plasma Waves And Instabilities, Planetology: Solar System Objects: Meteors, Space Plasma Physics: Numerical Simulation Studies

Scientific paper

Radars frequently detect meteor trails created by the ablation of micro-meteoroids between 70 and 120 km altitude in the atmosphere. Plasma simulations show that density gradients at the edges of meteor trails drive gradient-drift instabilities which develop into waves with perturbed electric fields often exceeding hundreds of mV/m. These waves create an anomalous cross-field diffusion that can exceed the cross-field (⊥ B) ambipolar diffusion by an order of magnitude. The characteristics of the instabilities and anomalous diffusion depend on the trail altitude, latitude, and density gradient. A simple relation defines the minimum altitude at which meteor trail density gradients drive plasma instabilities and anomalous diffusion. These results impact a number of meteor radar studies, including those that use diffusion rates to determine trail altitude, and atmospheric temperature.

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