The Morphology of a Multi-Bubble System in the Ionosphere.
Abstract
A multi-bubble model is developed to study the morphology of a finite array of plasma density depletions (bubbles) in the context of equatorial F-region irregularities during spread F. The Pedersen current conservation equation with quasi-neutrality is solved analytically using an electrostatic analogy. The solution is exact with no a priori assumption regarding the separation distance. A two-bubble system with a piecewise constant density profile is first analyzed and the technique is then applied to multi-bubble systems to calculate the polarization electric field and the rise velocities. It is shown that the influence of the neighboring bubbles is relatively short-ranged and that a small number of bubbles can adequately model the essential physics in a large array of bubbles. For moderately short separation distances, it is found that the E x B rise velocity is substantially reduced in comparison with the single-bubble case and that the rise velocity is strongly sheared resulting in the deformation of the countours. The implications of the new morphological results on the stability and dynamical behavior of the bubbles are discussed. The analysis can also be applied to a multi-plasma density enhancement (striation fingers and plasma clouds) system such as one might encounter in plasma cloud striation fingers. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 11, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA123065
Entities
People
- Jiayu Chen
- P. Satyanarayana
- Sidney L. Ossakow
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory