The linear theory of the ion-acoustic instability in the E-region ionospheric plasma has been studied. The instability can generate ion-acoustic waves with dispersion equation o c s k and with wavelengths of order of a metre in the region of small aspect angles y < 1 . This instability can be used for interpretation of coherent backscatter type I events. Considering the ion-acoustic instability it is also possible to explain rocket measurements during the ROSE project of waves with phase velocities smaller than the ion-acoustic velocity and dependent on frequency.
The influence of electron drift velocity shear on the Farley–Buneman instability in the ionospheric E-region is considered. First, we consider evolution with time of small-amplitude Farley–Buneman waves in the sheared plasma using Laplace transform in time and the exact solution for the model linear layer. As a result we obtain the Farley–Buneman waves with the component of the wave vector along the non-uniformity increasing with time. Second, we consider development of the Farley–Buneman instability in the sheared plasma using an approximate analytical method. We find that the electron drift velocity shear has a stabilizing influence on the Farley–Buneman instability. Also we find that the Farley–Buneman waves with the maximum amplitude have phase velocities close to the ion-acoustic velocity.
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