[1] Electron densities retrieved from the Constellation Observing System for Meteorology, Ionosphere, and Climate (COSMIC) radio occultation (RO) measurements are compared with those measured by incoherent scatter radars (ISR) and ionosondes in this paper. These results show that electron density profiles retrieved from COSMIC RO data are in agreement with the ISR and ionosonde measurements. The ionospheric characteristics (N m F 2 and h m F 2 ) derived from the COSMIC satellites are also compared with those calculated by the latest International Reference Ionosphere model (IRI-2001) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere-IonosphereElectrodynamics General Circulation Model (NCAR-TIEGCM). The comparison of the magnitude of the COSMIC N m F 2 data with those calculated by the IRI model and the TIEGCM is good. However, features such as the north-south asymmetry and longitudinal variation of the equatorial anomaly that are seen in the COSMIC data and the TIEGCM simulations are not fully present in the IRI model. On the other hand, the TIEGCM produces a stronger winter anomaly than that seen in either the COSMIC data or the IRI model.

[1] Plasma density structures and associated irregularities in the nighttime midlatitude ionosphere are frequently observed as frontal structures elongated from northwest to southeast (NW-SE) in the Northern Hemisphere. The frontal structures and the coupling process between the E and F regions are studied with a three-dimensional numerical model, which can simulate two instability mechanisms: Perkins instability in the F-region and sporadic-E (E s )-layer instability in the E region. The fastest growth of the coupled instability occurs when the unstable conditions on NW-SE perturbation are satisfied in both regions. The perturbation of F-region integrated conductivity grows much faster than the isolated Perkins instability. The meridional component of a rotational wind shear blows an existing E s layer southward, and the F-region structure follows the E-region drift velocity. The NW-SE structure in the E region can be formed from random perturbation regardless of the F-region condition. When the F region is unstable on the NW-SE perturbation, however, the NW-SE structure is formed in both regions with a common scale length. We conclude that (1) the E s -layer instability plays a major role in seeding NW-SE structure in the F region, and the Perkins instability is required to amplify its perturbation; (2) the rotational wind shear in the E region produces southwestward phase propagation of the NW-SE structure in both the E and F regions; and (3) the coupling process has a significant effect on the scale of the E s -layer perturbation rather than the growth rate of the E s -layer instability.

[1] A collisional shear instability in a magnetized plasma is described and evaluated. The instability is related to electrostatic Kelvin Helmholtz but operates in inhomogeneous plasmas in the collisional regime. Boundary value analysis predicts that the linear growth rate for the instability could be comparable to that of the collisional interchange instability in the equatorial F region ionosphere under ideal conditions. An initial value simulation of a nonlinear model of the instability run under realistic conditions produces growing waves with a relatively long growth time (50 min) and with an initial wavelength of about 30 km. The simulation results are consistent with recent radar observations showing large-scale plasma waves in the bottomside equatorial ionosphere at sunset prior to the onset of spread F conditions. The role of shear instability in preconditioning the F region for interchange instabilities to occur after sunset is discussed.

No abstract

No abstract