Accession Number:
AD0756461
Title:
Whistler-Duct Formation: A Magnetospheric Instability.
Descriptive Note:
Rept. for Apr-Sep 72,
Corporate Author:
AEROSPACE CORP EL SEGUNDO CALIF LAB OPERATIONS
Personal Author(s):
Report Date:
1972-12-18
Pagination or Media Count:
13.0
Abstract:
Magnetospheric ducts that guide very-low-frequency VLF radiation are subject to spontaneous intensification by a linear instability that arises from the coupling between the magnetosphere and the ionosphere. The elements of this instability comprise a localized enhancement of electron precipitation and a field-aligned column of enhanced plasma density, each in turn causing the other. This interaction can create fully developed plasmapheric ducts spontaneously from infinitesimal fluctuations. A whistler duct thus formed attains saturation nonlinear stabilization by virtue of ionospheric recombination and the bounded supply of electrons available for precipitation. Author
Descriptors:
Subject Categories:
- Atmospheric Physics