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Does a localized plasma disturbance in the ionosphere evolve to electrostatic equilibrium? Evidence to the contrary
Author(s) -
Cosgrove Russell B.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2015ja021672
Subject(s) - ionosphere , physics , ionospheric dynamo region , earth's magnetic field , electric field , alfvén wave , computational physics , field line , magnetosphere , geophysics , dynamo , plasma , wavelength , magnetic field , quantum electrodynamics , mechanics , magnetohydrodynamics , geomagnetic storm , optics , quantum mechanics
Electrostatic equilibrium must be achieved through electromagnetic evolution. From an initial state with nonzero neutral wind localized along the geomagnetic field, and with all other plasma and electromagnetic perturbations initially zero, evolution progresses from plasma velocity to electric field to magnetic field, where the last step can launch an Alfvén wave that transmits the electromagnetic disturbance along geomagnetic field lines. Without the Alfvén wave the disturbance does not map along geomagnetic field lines, and there is no semblance of electrostatic equilibrium. This paradigm is essentially the traditional magnetosphere/ionosphere coupling paradigm, except addressed to smaller‐scale, local ionospheric phenomena. However, Alfvén waves have not been thoroughly studied in the context of the partially ionized, collisional ionospheric plasma, and so the full effects predicted by this modeling paradigm are not known. In this work we adopt the two‐fluid equations and investigate whether the ionosphere supports Alfvén‐type waves that can transmit disturbances along geomagnetic field lines and perform a wave analysis of the “lumped circuit” parameters normally used to characterize the ionosphere under electrostatic equilibrium. We find that under the wave analysis (1) the Pedersen conductivity is severely modified and has a negative real part at short wavelengths; (2) the mapping distance for electric fields is significantly modified, and there is a nonnegligible wavelength along the geomagnetic field; and (3) the load admittance seen by a localized dynamo is strongly reactive, causing a phase offset between electric field and current, as compared with that when the load is electrostatic.