Ionospheric Alfv6n resonator revisited' Feedback instability I V. Khruschev i •/[. Parrot 2 S. Senchenkov, 1

Oleg A Pokhotelov , V. Khruschev , Michel Parrot (1) , S. Senchenkov , V P Pavlenko

1 LPCE - Laboratoire de physique et chimie de l'environnement

The theory of ionospheric Alfv6n resonator (IAR) and IAR feedback instability is reconsidered. Using a. simplified model of the topside ionosphere, we have reanalyzed the physical properties of the IAR interaction with magnetospheric convective flow. It is found tha, t in the absence of the convective flow the IAR eigenmodes exhibit a strong da, mping due to the leakage of the wa,ve energy through the resonator upper wall and Joule dissipation in the conductive ionosphere. It is found that maximum of the dissipation rate appears when the ionospheric conductivity approaches the "IAR wave conductivity" and becomes infinite. However, the presence of Hall dispersion, associated with the coupling of Alfv•n wave modes with the compressional perturbations, reduces the infinite damping of the IAR eigenmodes in this region and makes it dependent on the wavelength. The increase in the convection electric field lea, ds to a. substantial modification of the IAR eigenmode frequencies a. nd to reduction of the eigenmode damping rates. For a given perpendicular wa,velength the position of inaximum damping rate shifts to the region with lower ionospheric conductivity. When the convection electric field approaches a certain critical va,lue, the resona,tor becomes unstable. This results in the IAR feedback instability. A new type of the IAR feedba, ck instability with the lowest threshold value of convection velocity is found. The physica,1 mecha, nism of this instability is similar to the Cerenkov radiation in collisionless plasma,s. The favorable conditions for the insta, bility onset are realized when the ionospheric conductivity is low, i.e., for the nighttime conditions. We found that the lowest value of the marginal electric field which is ca, pa, ble to trigger the feedback instability turns out to be nearly twice smaller tha, n tha,t predicted by the previous analysis. This effect may result in the decrease of the critical value of the electric field of the magnetospheric convection tha,t is necessary for the forma, tion of the turbulent Alfv•n boundary layer and appearance of the a, nomalous conductivity in the IAR region.

Domaines: Planète et Univers [physics]

Oleg A Pokhotelov, V. Khruschev, Michel Parrot, S. Senchenkov, V P Pavlenko. Ionospheric Alfv6n resonator revisited' Feedback instability I V. Khruschev i •/[. Parrot 2 S. Senchenkov, 1. Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, 2001, 106, pp.25813-25824. ⟨insu-03234728⟩