Electromagnetic drift wave turbulence and convective cell formation

A model equation for nonlinear drift Alfvén waves in the region where they do not couple to the electrostatic drift wave branch is derived. Two conservation relations are derived and the results are compared to that of the Hasegawa—Mima equation. The spectrum is found to cascade to both smaller and larger k. The convective cell formation is studied for two different orderings of the parameters. The relation between characteristic scale lengths parallel and perpendicular to the drift flow for the onset of cell formation has been found.