Interaction of atmospheric gravity solitary waves with ion acoustic solitary waves in the ionospheric F-region

Coupled Korteweg de Vries equations are derived for atmospheric gravity waves and ion-acoustic waves and employed to study the interaction of these waves in the ionospheric F-region. The analysis shows that ion-neutral collisions can excite and thereby couple the waves which can therefore explain isolated ionospheric irregularities. Ionospheric solitary disturbances can be generated by: (1) ion-acoustic waves; (2) ion-acoustic waves triggered by coupling with atmospheric gravity waves; and (3) the ionospheric response to atmospheric gravity waves.