Accession Number:

ADA048752

Title:

Morphological Studies of Rising Equatorial Spread F Bubbles

Descriptive Note:

Interim rept.

Corporate Author:

NAVAL RESEARCH LAB WASHINGTON DC

Personal Author(s):

• Ossakow, Sidney L.
• Chaturvedi, P. K.

Report Date:

1977-11-01

Pagination or Media Count:

53.0

Abstract:

Analytical electrodynamic morphological studies of rising equatorial Spread F bubbles, within the context of the collisional Rayleigh-Taylor regime, are presented. The analogy between bubbles plasma density depletions and barium cloudsplasma density enhancements is noted. Bubbles tend to steepen on their top and elongate in the vertical direction and they narrow horizontally as they rise through the equatorial F region ionosphere. Linear and nonlinear models of constant shape bubbles are presented. It is shown, for these models that the vertical bubble rise velocity, V sub B gupsilon sub in fdelta nn sub o, where upsilon sub in is the ion-neutral collision frequency and f is an increasing function of delta nn sub o fractional density depletion, depending on the shape of the bubble. Consequently, high altitudes andor large percentage plasma depletions yield large vertical bubble rise velocities. The models are extended to include arbitrary electric fields in addition to the gravitational force.

Descriptors:

• *IONOSPHERIC DISTURBANCES
• *PLASMAS(PHYSICS)
• *F REGION
• MORPHOLOGY
• HOLES(OPENINGS)
• BUBBLES
• BARIUM
• ELECTRODYNAMICS
• CONVECTION(ATMOSPHERIC)
• PARTICLE COLLISIONS
• SPREAD SPECTRUM
• DENSITY
• CLOUDS
• EQUATORIAL REGIONS
• IONOSPHERE

Subject Categories:

• Atmospheric Physics
• Plasma Physics and Magnetohydrodynamics

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE