Observations of electron density irregularities in the plasmasphere using the VLA radio interferometer

Details Observations of electron density irregularities in the plasmasphere using the VLA radio interferometer Observations of electron density irregularities in the plasmasphere using the VLA radio interferometer

Oct 1993

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1993angeo..11..869j&link_type=abstract

Annales Geophysicae (ISSN 0992-7689), vol. 11, no. 10, p. 869-888

Statistics

15

Electron Density (Concentration), Irregularities, Magnetic Fields, Mathematical Models, Plasmasphere, Radio Interferometers, Very Large Array (Vla), Corotation, Fourier Transformation, Geomagnetism, Least Squares Method, Line Of Sight, Time Series Analysis

Scientific paper

Transverse irregularities in the line-of-sight total electron content have been studied with the Very Large Array radio-interferometer. Unresolved cosmic radio sources are used to back-illuminate the geoplasma. The baseline-differenced electrical phase time series are Fourier analyzed and then used to fit the constants (amplitude and trace wavevector) for a plane-wave model at each frequency. At frequencies greater than 0.003 Hz, i.e. above the spectral region dominated by atmospheric gravity waves, the VLA database reveals a distinct class of irregularities with apparent propagation azimuths within +/- 15 deg of magnetic east and with trace propagation speeds in the range 0.1-1.5 km/s. It is shown that these magnetic eastward directed (MED) irregularities cannot be explained as any perturbation generated by compressional waves at ionospheric heights. An alternative model is proposed, wherein they are geomagnetically-aligned irregularities essentially 'frozen' in the plasmasphere, corotating with the Earth. The relative motion of the radio lines-of-sight past the corotating irregularities produces exactly the class of 'high-frequency' disturbances seen at greater than 0.003 Hz. The frequency, and the trace speed, are artifacts of the relative motion of the line-of-sight. The trace speed can be used to infer where, along the line-of-sight, the irregularity occurs. This tool allows statistics of the location, shape, and incidence of the irregularities to be studied in some detail.

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