Diffraction of electromagnetic waves by small scale geomagnetic field-aligned density striations
A powerful electromagnetic wave in the ordinary mode transmitted near vertically into the ionospheric F region excites small scale density filaments which are stretched along the geomagnetic field. These striations are associated with a number of electromagnetically driven plasma phenomena, such as...
| Published in: | Physics of Plasmas |
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| Main Authors: | , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
AIP Publishing
2001
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1063/1.1399325 https://pubs.aip.org/aip/pop/article-pdf/8/10/4577/12415903/4577_1_online.pdf |
| Summary: | A powerful electromagnetic wave in the ordinary mode transmitted near vertically into the ionospheric F region excites small scale density filaments which are stretched along the geomagnetic field. These striations are associated with a number of electromagnetically driven plasma phenomena, such as anomalous absorption of electromagnetic waves, anomalous heating, and stimulation of electromagnetic emissions. The diffraction of an electromagnetic wave is studied theoretically in a cold plasma as it propagates at small angles to striations which have a small scale across the ambient magnetic field. For a sufficiently high number density of striations the stationary self-consistent wave electric field distribution consists of several independent beams. As a result the pump-induced striations are grouped in independent patches in the plane across the magnetic field. Such bunches of striations may have been detected in in situ measurements from a sounding rocket at Arecibo and as large scale density irregularities observed at Tromso/. |
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