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Ann. Geophys., 23, 2081-2094, 2005
www.ann-geophys.net/23/2081/2005/
© European Geosciences Union 2005
The effect of E-region wave heating on electrodynamical structures
J.-M. A. Noël1, J.-P. St.-Maurice2, and P.-L. Blelly3
1Department of Physics, Royal Military College of Canada, Kingston, Ontario, Canada
2Department of Physics and Engineering Physics, The University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada
3Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l’Environnement, Orléans, France
Abstract. We show that heating by large amplitude E-region plasma waves at
high latitudes can at times substantially enhance the
electro-dynamical response of the ionosphere. This is made
manifest through an increase in parallel current densities and
parallel electric fields generated at the edge of arcs in the
E and lower F-region of the ionosphere, in response
to sharp cutoffs in precipitation with an otherwise uniform
differential energy flux. The enhancement is rooted in a reduction
in electron recombination that occurs in response to higher
electron temperatures triggered by the generation of strong
electric fields near the edge of the arc. The reduced
recombination rate, in turn, leads to enhanced conductivity
gradients near the edge of the arc, which, in turn, drives more
intense parallel currents and stronger local electric fields.
Keywords. Ionosphere (Electric fields and curents; Plasma
temperature and density) – Space plasma physics (Numerical
simulation studies)
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