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Why Do Equatorial Plasma Bubbles Bifurcate?
Author(s) -
Carrasco A. J.,
Pimenta A. A.,
Wrasse C. M.,
Batista I. S.,
Takahashi H.
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2020ja028609
Subject(s) - bubble , plasma , bifurcation , equator , physics , airglow , ionosphere , mechanics , geophysics , optics , astronomy , nonlinear system , quantum mechanics , latitude
Abstract Ionospheric plasma bubble observations using all‐sky airglow imagers in the OI 630‐nm emission show bifurcations with complex patterns. Bifurcation is the division of one channel of the plasma bubble into two that grow vertically in the magnetic equator. Several theories have been suggested to explain the bifurcation mechanism. In this work we use a plasma bubble simulation code to examine these theories. The model used shows that the height where the bifurcation occurs is conditioned by the polarization electric fields inside the bubble. The numerical simulation produced plasma bubbles with complex ramifications which agree with the observations taken at São João do Cariri (7.4°S, 36.5°W).