Solar Wind Effects on Plasma Density Depletions: C/NOFS Results with Related Observations from DMSP

Before C/NOFS, the prevailing wisdom was that equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) were primarily a post-sunset phenomenon. Changes in the ionosphere after sunset create conditions favorable for instability formation as polarization electric fields increase near the terminator. Plasma irregularities that develop in the bottomside of the F-layer grow into large depletions that rise rapidly into the topside ionosphere. By two hours in local time after sunset the initial upward drift of the ionosphere reverses suppressing further development of instabilities. Tsunoda’s [1985] seasonal-longitudinal model predicted that EPB rates should peak near times when the equatorial declination and the dusk terminator are closely aligned. Under these conditions E-layer conductance vanishes at both ends of flux tubes simultaneously, allowing EPBs to grow most rapidly. We validated this model during the recent solar maximum. In this unusual solar minimum, however, C/NOFS has encountered very few post-sunset depletions. They commonly appear between local midnight and dawn. We trace the energy flow from the Sun to the Earth to demonstrate that C/NOFS measurements are providing key insights into the dynamics of the Ionosphere-Thermosphere system. Results suggest that systematic effects of solar wind / IMF on dynamics of equatorial plasmas and electric fields may allow long-term alerts about impending ionospheric disturbances that lead to scintillation activity. Reference: Tsunoda, R. T. (1985), J. Geophys. Res., 90, 447.