Initiation of equatorial bubbles by means of E-layer modification

The paper presents results of numerical simulation experiments on the initiation of ionospheric bubbles uusing artificially produced zones of elevated conductivitiy in the unilluminated E-layer. It is concluded that trigger initiation of bubbles using the technique described here is possible. The development features of the stimulated bubbles are investigated as a function of the E-layer modification characteristics, i.e., the size of the created zone, the level of the elevated conductivity, and the lifetime of regions of elevated conductivity.