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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Astron. Space Sci.
Sec. Space Physics
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fspas.2024.1502618
This article is part of the Research Topic Frontier Research in Equatorial Aeronomy and Space Physics View all 9 articles

Simulation study of the impacts of E-region density on the growth of equatorial plasma bubbles

Provisionally accepted
Tatsuhiro Yokoyama Tatsuhiro Yokoyama *
  • Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Kyōto, Japan

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) in the ionospheric F region are notorious for causing severe scintillation in radio signals, posing significant challenges for communication and navigation systems. Understanding and forecasting EPB occurrence is crucial from a space weather perspective, given their impact on satellite and terrestrial communication. In this study, we present impacts of E-region conductivity on the generation of EPBs by using the 3D High-Resolution Bubble (HIRB) model. By changing the production rate of N O + ion in the E region, the flux-tube-integrated linear growth rate of the Rayleigh-Taylor instability can be modified.From multiple simulation runs, it is shown that even a moderate variation of the growth rate turns into significant difference of EPB growth into the topside ionosphere. This is a major factor that have made the forecasting of EPB generation quite difficult for several decades.

    Keywords: Ionosphere, equatorial plasma bubbles, simulation, Rayleigh-Taylor instability, growth rate

    Received: 27 Sep 2024; Accepted: 23 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yokoyama. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Tatsuhiro Yokoyama, Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 611-0011, Kyōto, Japan

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