Daytime Density Irregularities Observed by C/NOFS
Abstract
Observations of low-latitude plasma densities by instruments onboard the C/NOFS satellite show a systematic pattern of small-amplitude density fluctuations during the sunlit hours of the day. The existence of these irregularities has implications for the seeding of the plasma instabilities that lead to the formation of the plasma turbulence responsible for Equatorial Spread F (ESF) and radio scintillation. Because of the potential for error in detecting these small deviations from the background density, it is reassuring that processing the data from two independent density instruments, PLP and IVM, on the satellite show similar density structures. We survey the altitude, longitude, and local time variations of the occurrence of these irregularities, and speculate about the mechanism responsible for their formation. Finally, we employ them as an initial condition in simulations of the formation of ESF in the evening, with the aim of gauging how well the statistics of the resulting radio scintillation matches the corresponding observations.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFMSA42A..04R
- Keywords:
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- 2415 IONOSPHERE / Equatorial ionosphere